horse first, cart second

so, here, the school year begins in march. which means kindy classes end in february and some kids (5+6 year olds) move up and the 7 year olds move on to elementary school.  as i've mentioned, i have the youngest class currently enrolled. Since they're so young and they just got a new teacher (me) two months ago, my coworkers and the teacher i replaced told me i'de likely move up to their new class with them.  friday is graduation and our new classes were announced today. i am not moving up with them. i am instead getting the newest bunch of "5" yr olds. ..kids who won't know a word of english. kids who will cry and pee their pants daily. i keep trying to reassure myself that they will be adorable and possibly really smart and will understand basic rules. i keep trying to not think about it or care about it until it actually happens (and is (probably) awful) but it's very hard. i'm usually good at putting things out of my mind but life events are very sparse here. without something to worry about what do people think about?   

i love you teacher

i know some people who openly admit to doing/not doing things so that their students like them.  i know from experience that a child's love is fleeting and could care less about them liking me or not. some days the will love me, others they won't but everyday they'll sit nicely, raise their hand, listen to teacher, and not yell.

my favorite student is the youngest in the school. tony. he's so smart and so excited to impress me with things he's learned. he remembers from one sentence three weeks ago that i like green apples not red and i don't like lemons or kimchi but i like pizza. (sometimes he gives me a fake plate and says, here teacher, i you pizza and green apple, no red apple, teacher likes green apple and no lemons) our school went on a field trip sledding. i was told that the teachers watch while the kids sled. i wore sneakers instead of boots. upon arrival i was told that my class was too little to sled alone so the teachers all had to ride with a student.  glad i wore sneakers instead of boots.

those of you who know me from way back know that i always get a concussion when sledding and therefor fear it.  however, here (maybe just because it was a lot of kids? maybe always?) they have a dude at the top who sends the first row of people down in a group and dudes at the bottom who push people in different directions if they're about to collide.  it was pretty awesome.

tony was sooooo happy that our sled went the fastest and the farthest (i started off the day breaking but my feet were cold and there was too much snow in my pants so i figured if i just start first i can not break and not worry about running over small children)   he was so tired after two hours but resolved to not stopping - he wouldn't get off my lap at the bottom of the hill - he could barely walk back up the hill - i ended up, at some point carrying him and the sled up the hill which he thought was hilarious. tony kept saying "i love you teacher" and "sarah teacher is good teacher, i love sarah teacher" i know it's the same as "i'm having so much fun"  but i have to give credit to my young coworkers who want the students' love. it is kind of nice having a little one tell you over and over that they love you.  even just in the 'i'm glad i helped you have a really great day' kind of way.