Baby Steps

I taught kindergarten today. Today is the first day of teaching for me since the MEA weekend (that's Minnesota Education Association) where teachers are supposed to have sharpened their skills. So we spend 3 days evaluating ourselves and a making plans on how to be a better teacher. I fretted. In addition we had a new student coming with particularly high needs. I got so stressed out I gave myself bad dreams for 2 days. So, today while I was singing and dancing with the kindergartners I realized just how much progress we have made in only 14 days of school (they go every other day). On the first day of school I had one who dropped to the floor of the bus and steadfastly pretended to be asleep. He not only refused to get off the bus he refused to even open his eyes or acknowledge anyone. This behavior persisted until 10:30. In the meantime, another student kept pulling the stuffing out of his pullups and eating it. Today, Mr. Sleepyhead walked off the bus and spent the first hour of the day in his mainstream classroom. True, he didn't participate much and spent some of that time rocking with his eyes closed but he maintained an upright position and no one had to "help" him move up and down the hall. Mr. Chewy is not longer wearing pull ups at all, he didn't pull the threads out of his sweater and eat them, and he took my hand and danced with me during circle time. All of my students can count to 5 by rote and with 1 to 1 correspondence, and they all recognize and write their own names. I know it doesn't seem like much but it's progress and it gives me joy to see it.