Hell: Week 5

Extreme "Whack-A-Mole" continues and though the numbers have decreased slightly, the monkeys I have more than make up for few bodies that have yet to show up. I have to sadly admit that it has gotten the best of me. I am HATING my job. I feel I am at the mercy of these monsters who have no concept of cause and effect. Reward or punishment. They are worse than Pavlov's dogs. In fact, if they were a Pavlovian dog, they would say, "How come he gets a treat? I want one! It's not fair. I don't want no bell. Bell? I'm going to go chew on my butt over here. Squirrel!" Pavlov would put them down.

Some strategies that are (unfortunately) working is rearranging all my furniture in order to corral them for lessons. With only 2 narrow escape routes, we gatekeepers can at least keep them in one small area. Not that it helps much. While trapped in this oval, they manage to do other damage such as pulling things off my bulletin board or taking all the books off my bookcase.

I could deal with all this if I felt the parents or administration were behind me. I gave some constructive feedback on how one kid was doing and the psycho dad, irrate with my "unfounded complaints," went straight to the principal to protest my groundless accusations. I was told to keep quiet from now on and don't say anything negative to him anymore. (???????)

If I must, say only good things. Yes, lie. (?????????)

Exhausted from dealing with exhausted children, I was also told to "not teach" in the afternoon and that it wouldn't hurt them academically. (??????)

All of us were having trouble finding our stride with our ECE partners. They were called in for a meeting and scolded for "touching" them (hugging, picking up, kissing). My partner took it very personally and now, in a really exaggerated manner, won't touch them at all. To the detriment of classroom management.

Difficult parents, kids, administration, and ECE. Maybe I'll go back to chef training.

Full Day Kindergarten...Week one

Oh. My. God. 31 three, four, and five year olds. 1 ECE teacher. Too many minutes in a school day for these little guys. Not enough hours in a day to plan, prepare, or rest. I am the living dead right now animated only by adrenaline and bananas. I don't know how I am going to handle Monday because not all students showed up today because of Eid celebrations. Monday will be all of them, plus 3 student teachers from Japan who would like to see how a Canadian classroom is run. It runs like a game of Whack-A-Mole except the moles manage to run out of their holes and all over the C.N.E.

I'm going to go and drink now...