Tuesday, August 05, 2008
What’s it like to be a…Pre-school Teacher?
My job title is: Pre-school Teacher
My actual position is :
Wiper of noses, tie-er of shoes, singer/dancer/entertainer, tour guide through the wonderful world of new experiences.
What does a normal day look like? Is it consistent throughout the year? If you’ve had this position for a while, how have things changed?
On a normal day, I get to school about an hour before the kids arrive and prepare the day’s activities. This might mean filling the sensory table with sand or rice or water, laying out books that relate to the week’s theme, getting out supplies for a science experiment, setting up materials for the rotating group stations, cutting out pieces for crafts, etc. This time is also spent talking with the other teachers on my team about any concerns or noteworthy items we have about individual students. Then the kids arrive and we spend a few minutes looking at books together until everyone gets there. Next we have circle time (calendar, weather, prayer time, letter of the week). After this comes a bathroom stop, followed by snack. Following that, we split up into our rotating groups; and the kids go around to three stations, each manned by one of the team teachers - the reading room, the science/creative center, and the math/music/manipulatives center. Each center has a specific learning activity each day that relates to the theme and/or letter of the week. An “educational play” type of activity to fill the rest of the time at that center. After these rotations are complete, we have large motor play time either outside on the playground or inside on the play equipment (dependent on weather). Then the kids go home. This sequence is repeated for the afternoon class. After the kids go home, I spend a little while planning lessons and preparing materials for upcoming days or weeks.
During most of the year this schedule is pretty consistent. In the weeks just prior to parent-teacher conferences, we spend a lot more time observing kids’ skills on specific activities so we can report their progress to their parents. In the week just before the Thanksgiving, Christmas, or spring program, we spend quite a bit of time preparing and practicing for the program.
I’ve only taught preschool for one year, so I haven’t seen it change at all yet!