Kleinberg

For the last three days, I've been getting used to life at Kleinberg and trying to find out how I can be of use.  At first, I didn't feel like I was helping at all, but lately, I've been doing little things make the day go more smoothly, like setting up the room at the beginning of class, checking off their classwork, etc. etc.  Also, I just started doing some small group work with the kids who are taking a little longer to grasp the things we are learning.  There is one girl who is always fidgeting around in her chair and chewing on her pencil and looking very distracted, but I took her to the back of the room today and helped her one-on-one with adding and she did really well.  It really makes me wish the class sizes were smaller and each kid could get more attention...but the teachers do really well with the challenge and I'm glad to help out.  Tomorrow, we are going to start regularly working one-on-one on reading with 4th and 5th graders with a program called Help2Read.  I've spent most of these past few days in the same 1st grade class I mentioned in my last blog.  I'm starting to feel more and more comfortable in this particular class, so I think it is where I will stay.  I did visit a 2nd grade class yesterday, but there is something about this 1st grade class that makes me want to stay, so I'll go with my gut.  The kids are adorable.  One of them told me I was a nice teacher, which was cute.  Another one of them always takes the opportunity in those free moments when we are switching between activities or the teacher is quickly marking down the attendance to ask me questions.  This morning, I knelt down to help him with his handwriting and right when I was about to get up he asked me what grade I was in.  He just chooses the most random moments haha.  Also, you can barely walk around the school without getting hugs from half the kids you see.  Bottom line- these kids are very affectionate.  Don't get me wrong- it can be exhausting trying to get certain kids to concentrate when they just don't want to, but the cute moments have the uncanny ability to restore your patience and happiness in an instant.  <3
I suppose I could write a bit more about the logistics of my day:  I wake up at around 6:30 every morning and get picked up at 7:30.  A few other people get picked up and we arrive at school around 7:50.  That usually leaves us with about 5 minutes or so to chill in the staffroom before heading to the classrooms.  During the day, we have two 20 minute breaks- one at 10 and one at 12:20.  All of the teachers share their food with each other and with us, so everyone just samples everyone else's food.  I love that.  As for end time, I was surprised to find out that Grades 1 and 2 get out at 1:15 and Grade 3 and up get out at 2:15, rather than everyone at the same time.  Anyway, that means that I'm one of the early ones.  :)