This past week was an emotional one! I didn’t sleep much, continually thinking of all the things I needed to do to prepare to be a counselor. The list was actually quite short because I’m still figuring out what exactly what I’ll be doing next year. I lost a majority of my sleep thinking of all the things I would not be doing as a teacher anymore. Then I started to think about the things I was going to miss. Decorating my classroom, creating bulletin boards, teaching phonics, organizing supplies, printing labels, making class lists, mailing “Welcome to Kindergarten” post cards, making memory books, the few good parents that truly appreciate what I do for their children, the students who truly enjoy learning…What made things easier is when I thought of the things I wouldn’t miss. The endless testing, preparing for meet the teacher and open house, the parents hanging on the fence watching their children play EVERY. DAY., kindergarten playground duty, training 5 year olds how to use a computer, the bathroom accidents, the parent complaints, the lack of parental support, the entitlement of some students and parents, the cleaning, repeating myself a million times until mid-January…
I know I made the right choice by accepting the counseling position. If I wouldn’t have been chosen, I would have been devastated and looked elsewhere for a counselor position and left the school that I consider my home. I have wanted to be a school counselor for a long time but have never wanted to leave my school.
The hardest part about the end of this year was knowing my niece would be going to a different school next year. I got used to her being with me every day and loved every minute of it! I got to push her and see the changes and growth she made and watch her gain independence and mature right in front of me. This year was by far my favorite year in the classroom because I got to share all of my favorite parts of kindergarten with her. I would never be able to top it so this is the perfect time to do something new. I am so excited to move on to counseling and accept the challenges and changes that are in store for me. I am so lucky to have the absolute best administration. I know without a doubt they will have my back and help me out as needed. I am looking forward to working with them on a different level.
I had a lot of my original kindergarten class stop by to see me this past week. They just finished 5th grade and are headed to middle school. A couple of them stopped by to take a picture with me and a couple of their parents visited me after school to take a picture and say thank you. These students were in my class the first year I taught kindergarten. It was only half-day at the time and there were over 30 students in each class. It was a crazy year. I often think about this year and many times have hoped this group of students turned out okay since we all learned together!!! This was the year when one student accidentally poked another student in the eye with scissors while I was working with a different student and didn’t see it happen. I had a parent volunteer in the room who saw it happen and take the student to the nurse. The student’s parents were very upset and said they would be getting a lawyer and I probably should too since I wasn’t paying attention to their child. My principal told me to hold off until we actually heard from their lawyer. Luckily, the doctor they took their child to said their was no permanent damage and the sclera was slightly scratched and would heal quickly. They didn’t proceed with a lawyer. I thought for sure that would be the worst thing that would ever happen. Nope. The very next year I took my entire class to an assembly while a student was in the bathroom and left them behind! It was the beginning of the year and the assembly was first thing in the morning. As soon as the students were unpacked, I lined them up and we left so we weren’t late. I didn’t take attendance first. I didn’t count them. I didn’t check the bathroom. I just lined them up, turned off the lights and closed the door behind me. When we got back from the assembly, the student was sitting at their desk crying and my heart sank! I spoke with her dad after school and he was very understanding and didn’t make a big deal about it. The next day, her mom called and said the child had nightmares and needed counseling because she already had abandonment issues due to her parents divorce and I stirred all of those issues up again by leaving her in the classroom alone. I apologized to her mom and had our counselor speak to her. The counselor said the child seemed fine and the mom had the issues. Later on in the year, the student started to use the bathroom excessively so I spoke with her parents. Her dad said that it was because of “the incident” and since I was the one who left her, I needed to be patient and deal with her using the bathroom more than usual. “The incident” was thrown in my face for the rest of the year by both of her parents. I’m seriously considering writing a book about my numerous “incidents”!
I got my classroom all cleaned up and emptied at the end of the week and moved what little I had left into my counseling office. I am very excited to decorate my new space. My husband and kids are excited that there is only one counseling office and I won’t be able to move around the building anymore lol. I haven’t stayed in the same room for more than two years in a row! I will be back in August with new blog posts (protecting confidentiality of course). I hope everyone has a great summer!