When I was finishing my practicum experience during my last year of university, I had been deciding what I wanted to do next. For a while, I was deciding between starting a career in teaching and student affairs. Everyone was already getting interviews for school boards and I was panicking about what I wanted to do. My mom worked for a daycare company and one evening she called me saying that the companies ONLY kindergarten class was looking for an OCT certified teacher. Obviously I was ecstatic! This was my literal dream job - I had been saying since I started university that all I wanted to do was be a kindergarten teacher. After a few phone calls, an interview and a showing of the classroom, a few days later, I had the job - but the catch was, I started the MONDAY after I finished my practicum. So I had two days to "relax" before I broke into full on adulthood. Talk about being thrown into it.
This past year was probably the most fast-paced, stress inducing year of my life. I got pretty much nothing in the way of lesson plans from the previous teacher, and felt like I had no clue what I was doing. I wanted so bad to do well, which left me studying the kindergarten curriculum in and out, going to workshops, and being on Pinterest constantly. I read so many kindergarten blogs and instagram posts just to get ideas. Basically the end of last school year was a blur, I was left to put together our kindergarten graduation - and that was enough for the last few weeks of school. I was lucky that I got to use the summer to be in my classroom and overhaul it because the same kindergarten program runs a "junior summer camp" that I was automatically a counsellor for. I used that summer to write a year long plan, monthly plan, create assessment and documentation outlines, change the look of my classroom and get organized for the year ahead.
I'm not going to lie, it was difficult. I was newly out of school myself - and still am, and was expected to teach 24 kindergarteners math and literacy. It was overwhelming, exciting and honestly one of the best experiences I've had. At times, I was annoyed, stressed and wanted to quit, but my littles made it worth it. It's a crazy feeling knowing that you taught these children how to read a word, spell their name and count to 10. The improvements I saw in this past year were absolutely wonderful - and even though there was many tears (from my kiddos and me), some full on meltdowns, and even a little bit of puke - it was worth all of the smiles, hugs and admiration I received from these little people. I'm writing this as I have 8 days left with my current children, and will be moving on to work elsewhere. It is such a bittersweet feeling. The biggest thing I am excited for is that I will be going from 11 hour days (I commute an hour and have a 9 hour work day) to approx. 7 hour days, which will give me tons of more time to do the things I love. So, that's what happens when you get thrown into your dream job. I will never regret the time I spent with my first kiddos and I cannot wait to be back for their graduation. I'll keep you posted on how the new position goes - I've heard being a supply teacher isn't the easiest thing in the world.
Finding my new normal,
Kayla
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