There are two boys in my class who know each other from last year and are giving me a run for my money.  Let’s call them Max (as in Where the Wild Things Are) and David (as in No, David!).  Max has a face like an angel and also likes to screech.  David is really smart and sweet, and cannot stop hitting other children.  Max loves school, ...

Perhaps because I started out teaching in a high-poverty school, and such schools tend to be law-and-order places, I am fairly strict about my students’ hallway behavior.  Now I work at a school where people are pretty lax about the halls, and my kids are among the few who are quiet and orderly.  My routines haven’t changed, though, ...

We had the best time today. The entire school and almost the entire staff went to a big celebration in a park, and we had the school to ourselves. Three kids were absent today, as was Ali, so it was me, Jan (my para), and 12 preschoolers. We went on an exploration adventure, starting with the [...]

When I taught preschool at a daycare center, during my first official year of teaching, I had a big classroom with a large area where we could sit on the floor for circle time, in an actual circle. Now, many years later, I am teaching preschool in a public school, in a very small classroom.  Our [...]

Perhaps because I really started out teaching in daycare, before I taught kindergarten at that inner-city school, I still obey the rules about licensing and ratios and proper supervision.  I never want to have my students out of my sight, because if something happened to them, it would be my responsibility.  So — I want to [...]