My Class at KES

My class at Kernersville consists of twenty-two kids who are all so freaking cute I can't stand it. In January when I was informed that I would be interning in a Kindergarten class I was really disappointed, "Fantastic, a half a year of wiping noses and listening to conversations about Hanna Montana," I thought to myself. Indeed I did find lots of runny noses and arguments over who was cooler, the High School Musical cast or Hanna Montana, but what I didn't expect to find were children who I would love to teach. I'll admit it, I was a 4th grade snob. For me, the pinnacle of teaching elementary school students was 4th graders; they still love their teachers but also are mature enough to have substantive conversations about interesting topics.

Although I still believe this about the 4th grade, I find it hard not to fall in love with Kindergarten! There is something about the way they learn and figure out things that is so fascinating and addicting, that it makes me forget about the fact that they can't button their own pants.

One day I taught a lesson to three small groups of children about how to be a "reading detective" and look for clues in the book when you can't figure out the words. We were focusing on patterns in the text to give us an idea of what was coming next (i.e. Brown Bear, Brown Bear type books). I was wearing a detective hat with a large card on it which read "reading detective" and was holding a huge magnifying glass and acting like a straight fool. I was looking and acting like an idiot but thats one thing I've learned with kids who have autism; when it comes to getting young children's interest and attention, go hard or go home. You can't have any of this 40% stuff. You have to commit to your silliness 100% or don't even try.

The most wonderful thing about Kindergarten is that the students will go there with you. Reading Detective? Sure! "I'm a detective too!" one kid yelled out when I told them what I was. "If you guys are lucky, I'll tell you how to make your OWN reading detective hat" (two baseball caps worn opposite ways...looks ridiculously corny but they ate it up) I told them. There was a gasp of excitement from the 7 children sitting around me. "Can we look for clues in the book now?" one child asked excitedly. They wanted to learn. They were begging for me to teach them. This is one reason why I love teaching, I live for that moment when kids are excited about learning something. It doesn't always happen and sometimes your lesson flops, but every once and a while you hit the jackpot.

Needless to say, I'm going to be a reading detective again next week.