Spring time!

I'm so thankful that the sun is shining, and I am no longer sitting and shivering in my classroom. Spring is my favorite time of year. It's not too hot, not too cold, just right. I also start to appreciate things in life more, after a bitter harsh winter. I think that new year's should be in the Spring. Maybe that is Chinese influence over me, but think about it. New Year should begin with new life. Not in the middle of winter when everything is dead and cold. Who is really motivate to start and stick to a new year's resolution at the beginning of January. "I'm going to exercise everyday", when the weather is below freezing? Yeah right.

I also feel like it's a new stage in life for my first graders. In the fall, they barely understood one word of English. Now they are speaking English all of the time. I had another foreign teacher ask me if I had an "English Only" rule. I told him only during class time. But here my kids were running around speaking English during lunch and recess. Teaching 1st grade is probably one of the most challenging grades to teach. They start out so helpless: can't read, can't speak, can't tie their own shoes, etc. They need constant attention. Imagine being the single parent of eleven kids all between the ages of 6 and 8 years old. That's what it is like being a first grade teacher. Not only that, but you are expected to make all of them function as a well organized class. Then there's the parents, "my kid has too much homework", "I want my kid to have MORE homework", "does my kid have friends?", "Please keep my kid away from so and so", and on and on.

But while 1st grade can be exhausting and stressful, I think it is one of the most rewarding grades to teach. You start with a child who has basically no skills, and you get to help mold them into these fun, bright little people. Now all of my students can read, they can speak English, and they know proper behavior. They have accomplished so much in one year, I couldn't be more proud of them. They know how to joke with me, they know how to help each other learn and improve. They are just amazing kids! I will have wonderful memories of them.

Now do I want to be a teacher again? Probably not, I can't imagine starting all over from the beginning again with a new class. However I am really thankful for all I was able to learn and experience this year.