6 weeks ago, I started a new academic year.
6 weeks ago, I started with a new class....but this was a class like none I had ever experienced before. This was an Early Years class!
The excitement I had before I opened the doors on that first morning was very quickly changed to sheer horror as the children came in, some crying (understandably!), some with huge amounts of confidence. Straight away, the role play area that I had set up as a cafe was destroyed - food, plates, cutlery - everywhere! The mark making area had all the baskets of bits just emptied onto the floor. The painting area had paint everywhere (apart from the paper it would seem). Everything was going wrong from what I had planned!
In all my preparations leading up to that day, I had forgotten one thing - to prepare myself for dealing with 30 4 year olds! I've raised a child so I understand that you have to teach them how to function in every day life - getting changed, putting a coat on, how to pick up and hold an object, how to eat - the list goes on. What I never really realised is that, just like when learning how to write instructions, or learning to produce a bar chart, children learn these skills at different rates. I think I honestly thought that you show children how to put on a coat, and they would instantly recognise that there are 2 arms that need to be the right way round, the open bit goes at the front and the longer bit between the arms goes at the bottom. After our first PE session, I realised that some children didn't even know that there was a difference between their tshirts and trousers! The same went for using a pencil. To me, it's obvious that a pencil is used for writing words or drawing pictures. To some of them though, it's just a piece of wood - a sword, a light sabre - anything their imagination wants it to be.
My role as a teacher had always been, up to that point, to plan a lesson, teach it, and support the children to achieve the learning goals. Now, my role is the same, but without the teaching part being a formal, obvious thing! The activities available for the children are there to let them lead it where they want. I have found that they come up with ideas that are so far removed from what I thought they would be doing, but more often than not, so much better than I could have ever thought of!
Today, the some of the boys started building towers and asking each other how many bricks they had used, how many yellow, blue etc. This went on for about 10 minutes and the numbers kept going higher and higher (24 was the most I believe!) but then they changed their own activity to see who could build the tallest tower, who could build the tower with the most blue bricks etc. I would never have planned for this, and, led by one of the other boys who is a fantastic mathematician, the other boys were able to share and hear extended vocabulary. I didn't have to step in once for the whole time that they were doing this. No arguments, no injuries - just exciting maths!
So, 6 weeks ago I was scared, terrified even, of what I had let myself in for. I honestly could not see why anyone would want to teach in Early Years, and I even considered looking for another post (although there is no way that I could actually do that to a class - to lose your teacher, let alone your first teacher, part way through the year must be so confusing for them!). Now though, I'm not sure I could ever go back up the school!! A timetable is restricting - what if I was to leave a Year 4 class with bricks for a period of time. They would probably come up with something completely different, but by the time they had stopped arguing over who was going to get the first brick, it would be time to pack away and move onto literacy!
As we move closer to the end of our first half term together, I have to say, I am really enjoying my class. It is full of some great characters, as are most classes, but I feel really lucky to be there at the beginning of their schooling. I may not be 'teaching' them much, but at least I've helped them put their trousers on their legs and not over their heads!
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