First week in PreK

Walking into McKinley for my new SPED placement was familiar and exciting. Ms Guzman has been wonderful at introducing me to their routines and procedures, while allowing me to explore the classroom and the students on my own as well. It is a vastly different environment from my last placement. Nieves's 3rd grade class at Abington was home to 28 students with one full time aid. My new class consists of 10 students...9 boys and 1 girl, all ranging between the ages of 3 and 5. There are 2 aids that are in the classroom full time.

The variance in student ability is astounding, with several students reading, communicating and questioning, while others are competely non verbal and have yet to be potty trained. It has become quite evident that while there is certainly time carve out for group lessons and shared learning experiences, the majority of instruction happens on a one on one level. As we all learned in our previous Pre K placements, the Creative Curriculum is designed to offer instruction through play time. During that time is when most of the teaching happens. Ms. Guzman is fabulous at circling the room and scaffolding each childs playtime experience with prompting and questioning that meets them each at their own level.

There is also a large discrepancy between the invovement levels of the students parents. Some are in the classroom regularly, and bringn classroom treats and goodies for all. Others have a hard time remembering to pick their children up, and refraining from arriving (I believe) under the influence of narcotics. What the children share is their excitement for being in the classroom. As a mom of toddlers, I can appreciate the wonder that the PreK classrooms in Newark hold for young minds. There is so much to do and for them to explore. Shelves and shelves of puzzles and blocks, pretend areas and science discoveries. There is enough in the classroom to keep them busy all day long, and yet I find that they all find comfort in one or two areas alone.

I am interested to see how the remainder of the year unfolds for me in my new placement. Several of the students have already taken a strong connection with me, and Ms. Guzman feels that I have already progressed some of their learning in the short time that I have been there. It will be an adjustment for me coming from the third grade. While chatting with Evan at Seminar, I told him that I hadnt really taught a lesson yet. He replied..."Theres always time for a read aloud!", to which I responded that I had probably done more than a dozen in the three days that I was there. This got me thinking. In addition to the read alouds, I had colored, played pretend, built with blocks, painted, sang songs, and led a dancing congo line through the classroom, all while asking questions, responding to inquiry and modeling social interaction. Now, again, as a mom, this is just a typical Saturday afternoon for me. But to a Prek aged child, this is indeed the way they acquire information. I guess I did teach a few lessons after all :-)