My First Class

3 Things I Learned in My First Year of Teaching

It was the summer of 1975.  My first job interview:

“Do you think you can teach kindergarten?  We’ve got a half-day opening.” 

“I have a kindergarten endorsement and I did student teaching in kindergarten this spring…” I began as I inched my credentials towards the principal.

“Can you start next week?”

No one asked to see my  grade point average, my transcripts, or my letters of recommendation. School was to start in two weeks and a last-minute swell in kindergarten enrollment had opened up an additional half-day position. They offered me a job on the spot. The contract confirmed my annual salary for the half-day position would be $3,500. I was elated.

And so my teaching career began. 

Here are three things I learned from that wiggly group of 28 Kindergarteners:

1. In my first year of teaching I learned college hadn’t fully prepared me for what I was about to face.

Yes, I’d had 4+ years of college including extra work to get a Kindergarten endorsement.  I’d done two student teachings and had many methods classes.  I knew “how to teach” in theory, not in practice.  Had I missed the class on what to do if a student ran out of the building on picture day and you didn’t notice he was missing until the principal brought him back to the room?  Who showed me how to count “milk money” and have it turned into the office by 8:15 while my class was finding more interesting things to do?  Was there a chapter in any textbook that explained what to say to the class when the tadpoles you’d brought in to show the life cycle of a frog began to eat each other?

 I learned by trial and error that first year.  Mostly error.  I feel like I should rent a billboard in that small, rural community saying:

If you had me for a kindergarten teacher during the 1975-76 school year,  I apologize.

 Those kids are 51 years old now. They’ve probably figured out how to read.

2. In my first year of teaching I learned that in order to be a good teacher, I had to become a student.

By the end of my first day, I realized my chosen profession was going to be challenging.  In order to be successful, I would need to continue to learn. At first, the teacher next door intimidated me.  She seemed to have it all together.  Her room was well organized and had a welcoming feel.  Her students behaved and she had lots of ways to make the curriculum interesting.  Once I set aside my pride and asked for help, she became my mentor, taking me under her wing and sharing her tips and techniques. I became a better teacher when I collaborated with others in my profession. It was a lesson I carried with me throughout my career. 

3. In my first year of teaching I learned teaching is a work of heart.

I wasn’t prepared to fall in love, but  I loved kindergarten.  Things were simpler then.  Kindergarten was a new to public education and there were no state guidelines or curriculum expectations.  We learned letters, letter sounds, shapes, and numbers by singing songs, playing games, and listening to stories. The housekeeping corner and building block center provided opportunities to share and take turns. We planted seeds in little cups and watched caterpillars turn into butterflies.

I loved it all, yet it was the students themselves who stole my heart. I carried them with me during that school year, struggling to reach those who were acting out in class, and those who were shy. We laughed at funny stories and listened with compassion when a classmate told us about a pet that had died.  I realized it was impossible to leave their stories behind as I shut the door at the end of the day and started home.

And now I look back….

This month marks the third anniversary of my retirement. Recently, I found a picture of my first class.  I look back and smile at that young, naïve girl and her energetic students.  There would be many classes of kindergarteners, first graders and fourth graders in my 37 year teaching career, each with its own joys and challenges.  Here’s to the one that started it all.