Being a first grade teacher is definitely full of little quirks. I had heard from the other teachers that I might have experiences with these little ones that will give me the chuckles. They also told me that these experiences would be throughout the year, so no concern about having things happen all at the beginning of the year.
Well, I am happy to report that they were wrong. Here are just a few of the most entertaining, and at times disgusting, moments of my teaching experience in the last 6 weeks of school:
#1: The Puker
Oh yes, the puker. Ms. Cai (my co-teacher) was doing her Chinese class and I was at my desk grading English homework, listening to music. I looked up, sensing that things had gotten quiet all of the sudden. Why? A sweet girl named Hannah puked all over her desk (including her Chinese homework), the chair, the floor, and herself. Now, unlike American schools who have the sawdust-like stuff to soak it all in, I didn't. Ms. Cai took Hannah to the nurse while I was blessed with the opportunity to clean up soggy, orange-chunk-filled puke with dry paper towels, all while trying not to puke myself and getting the other students trying not to be so dramatic. It passed, we opened the window to try to help with the stink, and class moved on.
Enter lunch time. Hannah said she was okay, so she stayed at school the rest of the morning. We eat lunch in the classroom (because there isn't enough room for the first grade in the cafeteria) and I was in the process of handing out the lunch trays. I hear a shriek (from a boy, no less) and look up to see Hannah puking again! I try to get the trash bin to her in time, but that was a loss. Again, it was off to the nurse (who is absolutely useless) and cleaning up more puke.
We were good and I suggested to Ms. Cai that Hannah go home. She called Hannah's mother and she came on her way. Before she got there? More puke. At least Hannah had the trash bin this time.
#2: The Pooper
I was getting the students ready for the next class (we have a 10 minutes break between each class) and noticed a girl named Alice still sitting with her math materials from Ms. Cai's class. Alice is an ESL level student, so she doesn't really talk to anyone, even in Chinese. Well, all of the students were up, moving, and getting things done and she usually picks up on what to do. She wasn't moving and I asked her to put her things away and go tot he bathroom.
She. would. not. move. Dead refusal to do anything.
Hum, okay. I was watching the other students to make sure that no one was killing each other (since they have no recess and have so much excess energy) and I looked over to see if Alice finally moved. She didn't. Okay, what is going on? I get closer to see that she was crying! What the chuff is going on? I ask her what is wrong and she refused to talk, of course. I grab Ms. Cai (a very commanding type of woman) and she took Alice to the hallway. It was weird because there was a stench following Alice. I thought, "well, they're kids and always a bit smelly".
Yeah, she pooped in her pants. Luckily, the kids are required to bring a change of clothes with them.
#3: The Crier
First grade is an event. The first spelling was one such moment for some of the students. There are 6 words that the kids need to know for the spelling test and the first week is basically practice; no pressure, no big deal, just time to acclimate to school and how it works.
I went over how to do the spelling test with my English class and began. I said the word twice, sounded it out, and then said the word a final time. I had done two and it seemed that everything was going well.
NOT!
I look around and right as I was about to go on to number 3, I see Hans sitting at his desk with tears streaming down his face and falling onto his paper. He is just bawling! In the moment, I had not idea what to do because I didn't want to embarrass Hans or stop the flow of the test. I go stand next to him, give the next word, and while the other kids were writing, I reminded him that it was a practice and that wasn't any need to cry. Well, that didn't go over well because he cried harder.
Brilliant.
The bell rang after the last word and I asked Hans to come to my desk. I asked him to spell all of the words out loud and he did great. I told him that that was all I needed. I looked at me with a rather blank expression, said okay, the skipped off for music class.
Well, at least he skipped!
Well, I am happy to report that they were wrong. Here are just a few of the most entertaining, and at times disgusting, moments of my teaching experience in the last 6 weeks of school:
#1: The Puker
Oh yes, the puker. Ms. Cai (my co-teacher) was doing her Chinese class and I was at my desk grading English homework, listening to music. I looked up, sensing that things had gotten quiet all of the sudden. Why? A sweet girl named Hannah puked all over her desk (including her Chinese homework), the chair, the floor, and herself. Now, unlike American schools who have the sawdust-like stuff to soak it all in, I didn't. Ms. Cai took Hannah to the nurse while I was blessed with the opportunity to clean up soggy, orange-chunk-filled puke with dry paper towels, all while trying not to puke myself and getting the other students trying not to be so dramatic. It passed, we opened the window to try to help with the stink, and class moved on.
Enter lunch time. Hannah said she was okay, so she stayed at school the rest of the morning. We eat lunch in the classroom (because there isn't enough room for the first grade in the cafeteria) and I was in the process of handing out the lunch trays. I hear a shriek (from a boy, no less) and look up to see Hannah puking again! I try to get the trash bin to her in time, but that was a loss. Again, it was off to the nurse (who is absolutely useless) and cleaning up more puke.
We were good and I suggested to Ms. Cai that Hannah go home. She called Hannah's mother and she came on her way. Before she got there? More puke. At least Hannah had the trash bin this time.
#2: The Pooper
I was getting the students ready for the next class (we have a 10 minutes break between each class) and noticed a girl named Alice still sitting with her math materials from Ms. Cai's class. Alice is an ESL level student, so she doesn't really talk to anyone, even in Chinese. Well, all of the students were up, moving, and getting things done and she usually picks up on what to do. She wasn't moving and I asked her to put her things away and go tot he bathroom.
She. would. not. move. Dead refusal to do anything.
Hum, okay. I was watching the other students to make sure that no one was killing each other (since they have no recess and have so much excess energy) and I looked over to see if Alice finally moved. She didn't. Okay, what is going on? I get closer to see that she was crying! What the chuff is going on? I ask her what is wrong and she refused to talk, of course. I grab Ms. Cai (a very commanding type of woman) and she took Alice to the hallway. It was weird because there was a stench following Alice. I thought, "well, they're kids and always a bit smelly".
Yeah, she pooped in her pants. Luckily, the kids are required to bring a change of clothes with them.
#3: The Crier
First grade is an event. The first spelling was one such moment for some of the students. There are 6 words that the kids need to know for the spelling test and the first week is basically practice; no pressure, no big deal, just time to acclimate to school and how it works.
I went over how to do the spelling test with my English class and began. I said the word twice, sounded it out, and then said the word a final time. I had done two and it seemed that everything was going well.
NOT!
I look around and right as I was about to go on to number 3, I see Hans sitting at his desk with tears streaming down his face and falling onto his paper. He is just bawling! In the moment, I had not idea what to do because I didn't want to embarrass Hans or stop the flow of the test. I go stand next to him, give the next word, and while the other kids were writing, I reminded him that it was a practice and that wasn't any need to cry. Well, that didn't go over well because he cried harder.
Brilliant.
The bell rang after the last word and I asked Hans to come to my desk. I asked him to spell all of the words out loud and he did great. I told him that that was all I needed. I looked at me with a rather blank expression, said okay, the skipped off for music class.
Well, at least he skipped!
Memories :D
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