COVID-19 has wrecked a lot of lives. It has caused people to lose income, jobs, friends, and sanity. While teachers are still permitted to teach remotely, we all know it is not the same as teaching in a classroom. There are so many barriers, some of which include: access to Internet or a computer, attention span, distractions, lack of communication, no in-person projects, etc… the list goes on and on. But, theoretically, teachers should be grateful. They are still getting a paycheck, and everything is online, so it must be easier… right?

Wrong. Teaching is hard on a good day, and nearly impossible on bad days. Having to leave all your classroom props and resources behind to substitute them for your living room is a lot harder than one might think. But aside from not having resources, time, or effort, someone might think that it is easy to do. Teachers know they would be wrong, but something that I miss the most about being in the school is teaching. Being able to see when certain lessons connect students to real-life applications and knowing that they understand the meaning of the lesson, beyond subject matter, is what matters to me.

I’m not going to lie, not every aspect about teaching is fun and exciting. Example A, lesson plans are extremely boring. But, they serve a good purpose, and that purpose is teaching! Being able to write out questions and having a guide to help teach makes a world of difference in how much children learn and take away from certain lessons. Having to write lesson plans, knowing that I’ll never teach them, was a bit of a blow to me. I loved my idea for my lesson plans, and not having the ability to teach them made me really miss the classroom and my students. Knowing that they are safe is obviously the most important, but I am looking forward to being back in the classroom.

Due to COVID-19, my college was shut down. Lately, I have been pretty down about all the things that I miss; however, rather than be sad, I am deciding to be grateful to have a place that is great enough for me to miss.

Being aware of something that you miss, and that you should be grateful for it, doesn’t always make it easier though. So, here I am going to make a list of things that I am grateful to be able to miss while I am away from college and my students. Here is what I miss most within the classroom:

1. Students when they smile at me when I tell them a joke
2. Having students (especially preschoolers) run up and give me a hug anytime they see me
3. Being in the classroom watching teachers who rock
4. Students running up wanting to pet my dog. And talking with students about their dogs
5. Having a quiet space to work with children and get experience
6. My awesome professors, who I still see regularly, but I wish I could see in person
7. Seeing my peers and fellow educators work with the students to make sure they understand the content
8. Having the resources and space to be able to do fun activities with the students
9. Teaching students.

As all good things must come to an end, so must my “things I miss” list. While I do love the classroom and spending time with the students, I also have a list of things I do not miss:

1. Stinky breath from unbrushed teeth
2. Lice outbreaks
3. Getting sick from a sick child
4. Having to explain complicated things, like questions such as “Who is God?”
5. Getting stepped on/tripped over
6. Being expected to hear and understand 5+ voices at one time
7. Having to put on “professional” clothes for class
8. Being exceptionally nervous every time I help the students cross the street

As I said before, all good things must come to an end, and this school year proved that. This has by far been one of my favorite semesters, both in and out of the classroom. Thank you for the memories.

As most know (sorry preschool practicum students), the elementary is studying space. While they are in this process, each student is researching one particular part of space that they are interested in. That being said, some of the students seem unclear as to what they are supposed to be doing, what it is they want to do, and what they are actually doing. A couple of these groups included the Sun, Earth, moon, and solar system. One of the student teachers, in order to explain the way the Sun, Earth, and moon cooperate, exemplified this by using student volunteers.

As I was thinking of the last time I learned about space, I recalled just how much spinning and speed differences are included. Nonetheless, Ms. Hernandez was enthusiastic and ready to make it work. She put the students into groups of 3 and had a Sun, who was stationary, an Earth, who spun while circling the Sun, and the moon, who circled the Earth as it was circling the moon. . . this went about as well as you can imagine with kindergarteners through second graders.

Afterward, while speaking to Ms. Hernandez, she told me that she had come up with that lesson a few weeks ago and never implemented it. I asked her what changed her mind, and she said improvisation. She knew the students were not ready to start researching again and that they needed something else to do. Even if it wasn’t accurate, it was fun, and it made the students more ready to research. On that day, I learned that, while school is obviously for learning, sometimes it’s necessary to drop the books for a minute and just have fun with the subject that is being studied.

Windows. Any book anyone has ever read most likely has a window. For me, I think of things that I have not experienced, such as being a dragon. In literature, children frequently see themselves looking out the windows into worlds of others, whether it is real or imagined; while this is fun, it is not good for a child to not see their own reality portrayed in literature. It has been proven that children need more than to see into other world—this is where mirrors come in.

Mirrors. People who see mirrors in literature as children tend to be more aware of themselves and accept themselves, because they see that others are like them too. For me, a white female, seeing myself in a book is not much of a feat. However, when a child who has a disability sees a disabled child in a book, they will begin to see that there are others like themselves, and proves they are not alone.

Doors. If you ask anyone to describe a door, they will likely describe it as “a way to get somewhere else” or something along those lines. While children can’t physically climb into literature (this is not Inkheart), mentally, they can and will. When they see themselves mirrored in literature, they see that they, too, can slide open that mirror so that it is a door in which they can do things they may not have been shown before.

The concept of windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors is highly important with literature. If a child does not see themselves as represented in the books they read, they may believe that they do not have a place in those books, and therefore they don’t have a place in life. While I doubt this is the goal of authors, it is what happens, and it needs to start being made more aware that children of all cultures, shapes, sizes, colors, religions, ethnicities, families, and everything in between, should be represented in the literature they see.

I am so excited to be in the elementary classroom once again! Seeing them playing outside at recess and having a few of them always want to run up to say hi really made me realize how much I missed them. Even though they can be frustrating, it is so rewarding to realize how much of a relationship I have built with some of these children. After not seeing them for almost a month and still be able to slide back into that role shows me how much of a relationship I do have with these children.

My goals for this semester are fairly similar to last, except this time I truly want to advance myself. I want to be able to 1) use language that children understand, 2) learn how to be more patient with children, and, primarily, 3) I want to learn how to discipline a child without being harsh. An example for each of these are: 1) I did a lesson last semester about the northern lights in the preschool. During it, I had trouble explaining science in a way that they could understand, and I don’t want to make that mistake again; 2) I understand that children make mistakes or don’t understand, but I am fairly quick to get a little heated when children do not listen to what I’m saying when I am trying to teach them something; 3) when I see the elementary boys running around I tend to ‘yell’ at them to stop running, rather than stopping them and asking them to walk.

These goals are all something that I want to develop over my college career, and I think that this class could be a great place to start. I am excited to see how the book ‘Choice Words’ will help me, and that we are doing more of an independent class, which I think will benefit me more than a more lecture-focused course.

Something that I believe is amazing in and of itself is snow. Snow is amazing; it isn’t solid like ice or the ground, it isn’t liquid like rain. It’s a beautiful in-between that turns everything it covers to appearing pristine and cold. Children don’t see it like that, of course. They see a way to see footprints, make snow forts, snow angels, snowmen, snowballs, and so much more. But this week they learned something else that is around the snow. Teachers have a magical way of making everyday things seem amazing. They can read a book or do an activity and change the perspective of an entire classroom; this Wednesday was a day like that. 

Taylor, the primary preschool teacher, sat the kids down on the carpet and asked them about the snow. What it felt like, how it smelled, why and when it happens, and more. But then she brought up another aspect; animals. Where do the animals go when it snows? Do they all go away or do some stay? She proceeded to read a book that showed both above and below the snow. Above the snow had people and trees and birds; below the snow, where kids don’t think to look, there are also many animals. Bears in caves, mice and rats burrowed into the ground, rabbits deep in their holes.  

You could see the way the children were thinking as Taylor read. Questions like “how do I know where the underground animals are” swam across their faces. After the book was over, Taylor asked them that question, and mentioned that at any moment, you could be standing on top of an animal that is buried deep underground. I watched during recess as the children ran across the snow; a couple of them seemed to look down at it like they had x-ray vision and could see straight through it. I could tell that they were thinking about the book, but I wondered what questions they were thinking. Looking down at the snow, I came up with a few myself, and now I don’t think I will be able to walk over the snow without thinking about what is both above and below it. 

Today, I read The Puddle Pail to two children, who we will call F.S., who is a girl and W.J., who is a boy; not the top two who I would put together, but I could roll with it. This book is about two brothers who decide to collect things. One brother collects things like rocks and bottle caps; the other brother collects puddles. As I read, I could tell that they were not super into it, but F.S. paid attention fairly well and answered my questions. After I read the book, I had them draw what they would collect if they could collect anything. F.S. chose to collect flowers, while W.J. decided to collect robots. After they drew these out, they went to another activity. But it got me thinking. 

If I could collect anything, what would it be? I’m not sure if I would most want to collect tangible items, like postcards or snow globes, or items that but can’t be seen, such as memories or knowledge. I asked some of my friends, and they believed I was looking too much into a children’s book; I retorted that children’s book are where you can learn some of the best lessons (thanks for reading all those books to us, RJ). I believe that the lesson I learned is that some of the most valuable things that are collected aren’t physical objects. For example, in the book the second brother collects the puddles because of their reflections and how they look different. He might never see that puddle in the same light again, but he captured it in his pail, so he could keep it. 

I believe that the entire book is a metaphor for memories, with the pail being a brain. At the end of the book, while he is sleeping, a dog shows up and drinks most of the water. He doesn’t get upset, but actually uses the rest of the water from the puddles to paint the pictures he had originally seen in the puddles. I believe that the dog represents sleep, because we do lose our memories and tend to forget things. But then he comes out and, with the rest of the puddles, makes something beautiful. 

Maybe I am reading too much into it. But maybe, just maybe, others aren’t reading enough. 

In general, children are highly interested in hands-on activities, or having something that they can create. This can be seen with painting, dancing, playing with play-doh, or even playing a character. Being able to create something of their own is majorly influential to a child, and I was able to observe the happiness it brings children this week in the preschool. I was able to see how happy it can make a child to express themselves in a way that isn’t through speech, especially for children who are shy or are English language learners. 

Different types of art have different results, both emotionally and physically. Painting in itself is a physical form of art that a lot of the preschoolers enjoy participating in. This was shown when they painted spiders with their handprints, and then again when they were just painting for fun. Dancing is a great way to get exercise without doing the typical go-to exercises, and it allows for creative freedom and expression; Raya showed this when she built a little stage for herself with the blocks, and then began to dance with ribbons for Taylor. Colson joined her and he, while not as expressive, appeared to have a lot of fun dancing on the homemade stage and being cheered on. Before and after dancing, Colson was highly interested in play-doh and creating his own objects, which ranged from hotdogs and pancakes to balls and snakes, but he treasured each one until he decided to create something new. When children play a character, it can be a way to express themselves in a place where they don’t know how. It can also just be a way to have fun and pretend that they are elsewhere, and either is quite possibly the reason that children pretend to be someone else.

Arts, whether it be dramatic theater or coloring or music, are so important to a child. Having a healthy way to express themselves is vital, especially to children who have trouble vocalizing what they want, such as having a language barrier, whether it is because they are not able to speak or if they speak a different language. Having a way to communicate with a child is essential, and communication is so much more than speaking. Having arts readily available in the classroom allows children to explore these other ways or expression and communication. 

Preschool is a literal jungle. A jungle I have previously experienced, but not to the extent that I feel I can thrive. I don’t think anyone is able to expect all the things that are said or the things that happen. Most of the people who are known for being truthful fall into two categories: kids or drunk people. And even then, I believe kids take the cake for being bluntly honest. They don’t tend to think about things like feelings or if what they are going to say will be hurtful or wrong; they just say what they are thinking or what they believe. This week, I received a harsh lesson in just how honest kids can be. 

My hair is currently purple and blue. Several of the kids looked at it but said nothing, which is fine. One girl, who we will call C, came over and asked me if my hair is real. I said yes, it is real. She then began to lift it and play with it, which made me smile. She asked me why I would want my hair to be blue and purple, to which I answered that I like it like that. Then, with her face deadpan, she said “my mom says colored hair makes people ugly.” 

I was in shock and had no idea how to respond for a few seconds. I could tell she was waiting for my response; I simply said that everyone is entitled to their opinions, but that I enjoy my hair the way it is. She accepted that answer and walked away but the way that she said that so easily made me realize just how honest kids are. Now, I know that she did not mean it in a malicious or rude way at all; she just wasn’t sure how to feel about colorful hair, so she simply repeated what her mother had told her, which is normal for a child.  

Not knowing how to mentally think about and approach the subject, I simply pulled one of the main teachers away and told her what had happened. She was also shocked, but I made sure to mention that she did not say it meanly or meant it rudely; she was simply repeating what she had been told. The teacher agreed with me that she could have said it nicer, or not at all, but C didn’t think that what she said was right or wrong; she just saw it as the truth. This is another one of those lessons that we can take away from children; sometimes the truth can only be said in a blunt way for it to be understood. Other times, it can be better to not say anything. 

Elementary school. It’s a place where we begin to discover who we are, why we do the things we do, who we should be friends with. It can be pretty tricky. But in a lot of ways, elementary school is just like college. Let me explain; in elementary school, you start to experience more independence. People begin to make new friends, and most likely start at a new school. You start to realize who you are and why you have the opinions and beliefs that you have. You still have family and friends to support you, but with each year you become more and more ready to do things on your own. In many ways, at the start of this class, I felt the same as many of the elementary students, just trying to make friends and do my best. 

With this being the last week in elementary, I felt oddly bittersweet. Yes, I know that I will be seeing the students around campus and probably end up with them again next semester or year, but it is still somewhat difficult to leave them. I’ve come to know many of their quirks, personalities, and favorite rules to break. I’ve learned of different heritages and cultures, and I am constantly shocked by what some kids say. I know some parents and siblings, as well as the classroom pets. And the idea of leaving all this knowledge behind in the classroom is hard to accept.  

I know that I won’t forget the students, and that I will hold some of the memories I have from the elementary classroom close to my heart. Having been with these children for several weeks now, I have learned that each child truly is different and learns differently than other children. Some kids will appear to be ignoring the teacher the whole time but can describe in detail what was just read. There are also the kids who appear to be engaged and who try hard, but they can never seem to recall what they just learned. Hearing those few students who get so happy and excited to see you that they can’t help but yell and run up to you with a hug, and also those students who simply call you by your name when you’ve never spoken to them before. These are the memories that I will recall when I think about the elementary.