K is for Kindergarten Clear

  My A to Z Challenge Theme this year is the ABC's of me.  Each day in the month of April with the exception of Sundays I will be posting about one aspect of my life that begins with the letter of the day. 

It's time for some  A to Z catch-up. , I am currently 3 posts behind.  The next letter is  K so let's get right to it shall we?

A was for Amateur Parodist

B was for Blogger

C was for Christian

D was for David Davidovich

E was for Evangelical Sans the Trump Kool-Aid

F was for Father of 3 Adult Children

G was for Giraffe Lover

H was  for Husband of One Amazing Wife

I was for Iguchi Appreicator

J was for Jester

K is for Kindergarten Clear

Kindergarten clear is a phrase I made up a few weeks ago.  As soon as it left my mouth, I was pretty sure it would find a way to my blog, and here it is all the way to the A to Z challenge.  It's all I can do not to say, "You made it bill, now you're a law."

Before I tell you how the phrase originated, a little background.

For the past 2 years,  I had been a building sub at various schools in my district. This means that everyday I go to the same school each day and take the adventure Aslan gives me.  That is a Narnian way of saying I fill the most needed opening.  

About a month ago things got changed up a little.  I got accepted for a long term sub position that started right after Spring Break ended.  For the 3 weeks before that I hopped back and forth between 4 different schools.  On my third day of this I subbed for a Kindergarten class.  This particular class had 23 students and on this day none of them were absent.  

It was a good day, I enjoyed the students and they enjoyed me.  However if Kindergarten is something you keep score of, the Kindergartners probably won that day.  The real loser of the day was probably the room.  I tried to get it back in the order the teacher had left it, but there were just some things that I couldn't remember where they went.  

I was back in the building 2 days later as a 1 on 1 aide in a special needs classroom.  I actually did that same position 2 more times before Spring Break started.  On my lunch break I tried to pop in to see the kindergarten teacher and mainly apologize for not leaving the room neater.

When I walked in she had all 23 students sitting exactly like they are supposed to doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing.  She asked me what I needed very pleasantly and I told her I had just subbed for her.  You could tell that the students were beginning to notice me and some were starting to greet me.  Before they could, she just looked directly at me and very pleasantly said "this is not a good time."

I turned around and went and ate my lunch.  On the last day I was in the building, I was in the teacher's lounger and a number of teachers were talking.  I got into the conversation and realized that one of them was the kindergarten teacher.  At some point I apologized for leaving the room not exactly as she had left it.  She apologized to me about being rude , explaining she had only just then got all 23 kids in order.  

My reply, "I didn't think you were being rude. You were just being Kindergarten clear." Just like that, a phrase was born.

To me Kindergarten clear is when you are being direct, kind, caring and no nonsense at the same time.  When 15 kindergartners all try to help you use the smartboard at the same time this is a time to be kindergarten clear.  

A point sheet is a tool that they use in schools to help children who are having issues with behaviors.  In each class or section they are in they get points for positive behaviors.  They go over their point sheet with a teacher or other staff member at the end of each day and if they have earned a certain percentage of their points for the day and or the week they get a prize or reward.  

When I was subbing for a music teacher the  last 2 days before spring break I had a kindergartner on a point sheet.  He was trying to earn 1 point for listening to the teacher, another for being kind to other students, and a third for doing the work of the class.  He spent most of the class running on the risers that the teacher had left me a note that no students were to go on, and when he wasn't doing that he was saying awful things to other students.  I gave him only 1 point because the work of the class was singing and dancing along to videos which he was doing each time I redirected him from his other 2 activities.  

I tried to be kindergarten clear with him each time on the riser, and each time he was mean to other students.  At the end of class I explained to him how he had only earned 1 point and with all the kindergarten clear I could muster, I explained that I'd be back tomorrow and I was sure he could do better.  On Friday he came back and he got 2 of his 3 points.

Kindergarten clear is not just useful  for kindergartners.  I used it just today with a 2nd grader whose class I drop into 10 minutes a day and later take that student and a few others for 30 minutes at a time of extra work in math and reading.  When I walked in today the teacher was collecting the spelling test and he had only written 1 word on the paper.  I'm not sure if he was doing something else during the test or not, but the teacher was asking him to pull the page out of his workbook and he was refusing to do so.  

This was just my 8th day on this assignment but since I spend an hour and ten minutes with him a day we are getting to know each other pretty well. After seeing him refuse the teacher 3 times, I came up to him and asked him to take a walk with me.  We walked in the hall way to a bench by the office and I reexplained what his teacher had said, she wasn't mad at him, she just needed to collect the papers.  I asked him to write his name on his paper, which he did and I asked if I could rip out the page and he let me. As I did this I used my kindest voice while making it clear that when teachers ask for us to do something we need to do it right away.  We walked back in the classroom, he put his paper in the turn in bin and it was like the incident never happened.  

I think this might be a good time to quickly segue to this weeks prompts at the Writer's Workshop

Here are this week’s prompts: (I am answering the one in bold)

1.  Write a post based on the word genealogy. 
2.  Write a post in exactly eleven (11) lines (sentences). 
3.  Would you rather understand what everyone is thinking or see everyone’s future? 
4.  Start a post by pasting whatever you have on the clipboard and go on from there. 
5.  If you could have any person become a member of your family, who would you choose? Why? 
6.  If you were required to have a job of some type but you didn’t need the money from it to survive, what job would you choose?

I technically do not need the jobs I have to survive.  Therefore, I would say that I would choose the job I have now as a substitute teacher.  Not only does it give me a chance to be kindergarten clear.  But it is a job that I love and  also one that I do well.  It is a job that challenges me and also a job where I can challenge others.

For more Writers Workshop join John and company at The Sound of One Hand Typing.To see more A to Z challenge posts go to the master list. You can also go to the A to Z Challenge Blog.

Coming Up: A Trip to the Library