Ideas: We're getting a few disposable cameras for the kids to use throughout the week. I'm super excited about the finished product, but the only tricky thing is to keep track of each child's photos. I'm still working on an efficient way to do this. Tomorrow's we'll spend circle time talking about the parts of a camera. I wonder if any of them know anything about it since most parents use their cell phones... That should be interesting. They'll be learning the basics because we've had so many transitions lately (another one starting tomorrow) and now our class often feels like an older toddler class. Hopefully everyone will be able to take away something valuable by the end of the week. We'll only be focusing on a few terms: lens, flash, viewfinder, and clicker. What's a clicker? Clicker is what we'll be calling the shutter release. We'll mention that term, but four new words is as much as most of these kids will be able to handle at this point. We'll also be making our own cameras out of tissue boxes and toilet paper rolls, but that involves A LOT of prep work. I was going to cut a toilet paper roll in half, stick it in the tissue box and somehow secure it, then cover the box in butcher paper so it's a completely blank canvas for my Sharks. I need to check my supplies to find something fun for the clicker.
Field trip: I'm hoping Tuesday goes well. Field trips can be stressful. (We can only go if one more parent signs up to chaperone.) Luckily we have a 1:2 parent:child ratio and Ms. H and I aren't considered chaperones. We're just in charge of leading and supervising. This is the first brown bag picnic I've ever been a part of as a teacher. I'm a bit on the paranoid side because a child with severe allergies recently transitioned into my class. I've worked with several children with severe allergies before, but I never had to leave a center for a meal where parents are likely to pack foods a child is allergic to. The office has sent e-mails regarding this issue to all parents so I'd be nice if everyone will be respectful of allergies, but I know there will be at least one person to pack something on the allergy list.
Allergies: Speaking of my new friend with severe allergies.... I've completely lost my mind of this! I've always been cautious of checking labels of my foods before brining it in for my lunch, but now I'm asking Ms. H if she's read her labels and making sure we both wash our hands ALL THE TIME. We already wash hands frequently thanks to preschoolers being preschoolers and putting hands/toys in their mouths, hands going down the pants and/or in their nose... It makes you think if you were that germy as a three year old, right? I still like to think I never went treasure hunting in my nose and I only put food and drink in my mouth. Parents have been slacking about washing hands first thing in the morning and so have teachers about reminding them to do so. Now with our new friend we are cracking down on it. I write it on our white board (located right outside the classroom by our entrance), we write it in our daily notes everyday, and we verbally invite them to the sink after a few seconds of being in the classroom. I did have a parent come up to me and ask me if her child could eat a cereal bar quickly. The ingredients weren't listed on the package so I suggested she have her son eat it outside of the classroom and then wash his hands again. She agreed and understood where I was coming from and followed through. I love when parents do that! Our number one priority is the safety of the children. I think sometimes parents either forget or don't realize all the things a teacher does during the day.
End of summer: This is the last week of the summer program and I don't think I'm going to miss it too much. I'll miss summer, don't get me wrong about that, but not the summer program. There's a control factor we have to give up during summer because things are planned that teachers aren't involved in, like general unit ideas that last two weeks, field trips, special days, water play... That's something that I personally have to figure out how to handle and deal with because I find comfort in the freedom of doing what I want when it comes to activities, special days, and themes (while working with my co, of course.) Lucky for me I have an awesome co in Ms. H. She's so green to this that she's comfortable with following. I still have to push her quite a bit because I want her to feel like my equal and not my side-kick. I'm hoping that with the start of the school year I'll learn to give up some control and Ms. H will learn to take more of it. As much as I love being looked to as a lead teacher, that's not what I am. It's exhausting doing the work. I don't know if it's pride, copious amounts of stubbornness, or what, but it's challenging to give up the slightest amount of control to anyone else, but I need to do it. And the start of a new school year is more than the perfect time to do it!
Upcoming themes: For the past couple of weeks the Sharks have been talking non-stop about fire drills, fire fighters, and fire trucks. So we've decided to do a unit on it! I told the office about it and asked if they could try to get a real fire fighter to come in and talk to us. We tried this last year, but never heard back from them. I'm hoping it'll work out this year. How cool would that be? I've been pressing Ms. H for ideas and she suggested Italy. She'll be working on that unit.
If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. -Maya Angelou
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