Sunday, August 3, 2008

Vacation is over... My Shown and Tell for Today

My Show and Tell with Mel for today is a funny one, a funny one to me anyway. But a good, funny one though.

Don't forget to check out what the rest of the class is showing today too.

As some of you know I have been living in Cairo for three years now. I have not worked during this time at all. Sure it's been fun relaxing, taking care of our new house, gardening, and just loungin' around, but enough is enough.

I have always worked, both for corporations and in my own business for years- so this new found joblessness was a new concept for me. Nice, but kind of too long.

It's not that I didn't want to work, but here it is different. Different in so many, many ways and quite honestly I just didn't look much.

But guess what? I am a teacher now!

Hi, I am Miss Wishing4One. (Can you hear the kids calling me that? "Hi kids, my name is Miss Wishing4One, i'm your new teacher, you will love me, and oh, you surf the internet, be sure to check out my blog.")

Yes, thats right, I will be teaching Kindergarten!

Now, do I have any teaching experience? Nope!

Can I do this? Yup! You bet your .....

I have been THE QUEEN of gathering info from the internet. Lesson plans, themes, centers, activities- you name it, it's saved on my laptop buddy!

Its so truly amazing how much information teachers put online for poor souls like me, new to teaching. AMAZING really, really AMAZING I tell you.

So why did they hire me, with no experience you ask? Um, maybe my astounding good looks and charm?

Seriously, I think maybe it was my enthusiasm in the interview, my excitement to want to help these kids learn and my love of children.

I know that some of you are teachers, different grades, but what is the best piece of advise you give me starting as a new teacher with toddlers?

I don't drink, so bother telling me to, LOL. I know it may be CRAZY for me at first, but seriously, some words of wisdom from those of you who know.

C.h.i.c..k.a   c.h.ic.k.a   b.o.o.m   b.o.o.m... will there be enough room?



19 comments:

  1. How exciting! I used to teach 7th grade, and oh, I just adored those little boogers!
    My advice would be to have fun. Kids that age love everyone, so i hope you enjoy teaching on a daily basis.
    I can't wait for you to share some f your cute and funny kid stories with us!

    Good luck! When is your first day?

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  2. wow, congratulations to you, I bet you can't wait to start teaching your class!! Just one question - if you have no experience teaching, how did you get the job or are the rules in Cairo different? I mean over here in the UK you have have a qualification and experience and all that rubbish (never mind whether you'd actually make a good teacher as I think you will!!)

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  3. You are a brave, brave Woman. I don't care for most peoples' kids...

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  4. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!!! Yay for a job. I went to Italy for 3 months after we got married and I was BORED out of my MIND! (yes, bored, in Italy). I'm a worker. Must work. That's great you were able to find something!

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  5. Congrats on the new job!! I'm so glad you have something that excites you so much. There is no doubt in my mind that those little buggers are so very lucky to have you as their teacher.

    My only experience with teaching was for college physics labs. I would take the little ones over this any day. LOL. All my best. (:

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  6. What? That is so cool! All I can say is - you will be exhausted! But it is so much fun.
    Wat kind of school are you going to be teaching at?

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  7. Congratulations!! That's too awesome. I'm sure you're going to love it.

    My advice... be consistent and be prepared. Other than that, have fun. If you're having fun, the kids will be having fun!

    Best of luck!!!

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  8. Congratulations on becoming a teacher!! I am going in to my 4th year as a teacher (5th grade), and I absolutely love it.

    My advice - be consistent; cultivate your patience; don't beat yourself up when/if you have a bad day; remember that kids (especially little teeny kids in kindergarten!!) need very explicit explanations of what you expect of them, they need it in little pieces at a time, and they need to hear it over, and over, and over.... You will have a blast!

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  9. Congrats on the new gig! Sorry--never taught myself, so I don't have advice. Wishing you much luck and success. Can't wait to read you're experiences :)

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  10. I have taught before, many years ago, but not anymore. My advice:
    Don't think of them as toddlers. Technically they're not toddlers, sure, but the bigger issue is that they think of themselves as big kids. I remember being six years old and thinking that I could do anything, knew everything, etc. If you treat them as people instead of as small children, you'll get a lot farther.

    Good luck!!

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  11. Best of luck with the teaching. I love teaching myself, but man its a lot of work! Thanks for your lovely comment too!

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  12. congratulations on the new job! sounds exciting and exhausting. enjoy!

    btw, all of your fruit trees sound amazing!

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  13. Wow. You're brave. Or I'm a chicken. I couldn't do it. But good luck and I hope it's great.

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  14. Kindergarten is the best. Those kids are going to love you and remember their awesome KG teacher 4-ever.

    My only advice...Have lost of cookies!

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  15. Congrats and good luck with the new job!

    BTW, one of the other bloggers I read is planning a trip to Cairo! I gave her the link to your blog in case she has any questions ... hope you don't mind. Here's the link to HER blog if you'd like to check her out. :)

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  16. That's why I love this blog cuz you constantly surprise me everyday with your amazing stories!!! Awesome!!! I haven't been working since my operation and that's almost 3months and I am dying!!!

    You are one brave woman to have so many kids at a time!! I love kids but when there's just too many of them, I go whack!!!

    Congrats!!!!

    show us pictures of you and the brats. I mean, lovely kids. *oops*

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  17. Congratulations! And what a fun (and challenging) age group. Good luck with that!

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  18. OH MY GOD!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

    Wow...I agree...you are a very brave woman! I think you are going to be a wonderful Kinder teacher! That is such a great age & probably one of the most important grades!

    I've never taught K (too afraid), but one of my best friends tells me her stories all the time. She said the first week is the hardes (trying to get them used to not napping all day, crying for mom & dad, and sometimes potty-training!).

    My advice as a teacher in general though is to teach from your heart. When you get frustrated (which you will), take a step back and think about the tremendous responsibility you have to these little people.

    Teaching is a very rewarding job & I think you will love it!

    Can't wait to hear about your days :)

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  19. Okay, I'm definitely gonna be reading you regularly from now on! I'm an early childhood teacher - taught 1st and 2nd grades, haven't been working for the last 3 years, AND we were just thinking of going overseas to teach to save up some money!! We definitely need to talk.
    For now...best advice from having taught that age group (my student teaching was KG and pre-K, so my experience is all the way from pre-K to 2nd grade) - establish your rules and routines and behavior system firmly at first - spend the first two weeks getting your kids to learn their routines and how things work in your classroom before you jump into the "academics". Omg, I'm so excited for you! I really miss teaching. Do keep us updated, I'd love to help in whatever way I can.

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