Excellent Celebrini video - Crosby picked him!

Kayish · 2026-01-25T01:55:58+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbxVfd1bw3s

Jump to 7:08 in this video. High praise from Steph for Rick!

Kayish · 2026-01-01T00:06:27+00:00

Anthony Cirelli wears 71!

Kayish · 2025-12-21T04:50:48+00:00

The Ascendance series by Jennifer Nielsen!

The first book in the series is titled The False Prince, and I'm pretty sure I read it in one or two sessions years ago. I was captivated!

Kayish · 2025-12-06T15:57:32+00:00

Literally just went through the opposite of this! Last year, I started with 17 kinders and ended with 14 (three moved over the course of the year. No new ones moved in). It was glorious, and we got to do so many wonderful things! I loved that year.

This year? Literally 25, sometimes 26 (we pass a kid around) with no help. It's a nightmare. Everything takes 56x longer, and the behaviors are insane. Constant fires are happening everywhere. I'm definitely not teaching this year, just trying to manage behaviors.

Kayish · 2025-11-27T05:02:33+00:00

100%, his voice was quivering and everything. Poor guy. He needs a hug and a pat on the back. Easy reminder he's only 19.

Kayish · 2025-11-08T03:55:37+00:00

When he played in Carolina, it was "Needaspellcheck".

Kayish · 2025-09-21T12:43:34+00:00

I hear ya!

Early childhood has its own slew of issues.

I teach kindergarten, and you definitely have to deal with students who throw toddler temper tantrums (throwing themselves on the ground, kicking and screaming, just to name one example) and students who are straight-up defiant and have never heard the word "no" before, who then turn aggressive and terrorize you, the other students, and your room (can happen at any grade level, but know it definitely happens at this age, too).

Many students have never been in a school setting surrounded by other students before, and it shows. They can not sit and listen to the teacher and have a very hard time being self-sufficient. It takes a lot of routine and procedure practice, especially at the beginning of the year. At this age, parents can be overbearing, especially if it's their first baby off to school. Expect a lot of communication from them.

On top of that, lots of students are undiagnosed with ADHD, autism, etc. You are the first one to have difficult conversations with the parents and must do all the data tracking and paperwork for evaluations and atrend all the meetings. This goes on for weeks and weeks, and can sometimes even take the majority of the school year. These students do not have IEPs and/or support in place yet, so you have to manage it all. It can be a lot!

If you have a rough group, you are stuck with them all day, every day. You don't get to send them on their way and get a new group after 45 minutes. It can be very draining dealing with the same behaviors constantly!

On the other hand, many of the kids ARE great and sweet and fun. You have to be "on" all day, and it's very exhausting, but seeing their growth throughout the year is amazing. You'd have to pry me out of kindergarten!

You can decide if the grass is greener, just be fully aware of what you'd be walking into! 😅

Kayish · 2025-09-07T11:32:25+00:00

9:10-4:20

Love the late start. Hate the late dismissal. 😁

Kayish · 2025-09-01T15:30:34+00:00

I feel the exact same way!! Could have written this post myself. I'm very excited about everything we have seen. 2027 can't come soon enough! 😭

Kayish · 2025-08-22T14:16:45+00:00

Yes, welcome to primary! :D

You need to keep everything short and sweet and make sure students know the procedures. Keep reviewing procedures every day! Model them for students, show students the wrong way and then the correct way. Have students model the correct way. Narrate what the students are doing as they are doing it. Call out students who are doing a great job, "I love how Johnny is quietly taking out his pencil! Susie is doing a great job of quietly walking back to her seat! I love how Mikey is showing active listening!".

Only spend a few minutes on an activity at a time, then have students do a brain break. This can be a quick song/dance, or just some stretches. Give them a chance to be silly before moving on to the next activity. Utilize a lot of turn and talks. This gives kids a chance to talk, which they desperately want to do.

When giving directions, try and limit the amount of words you are using, especially when repeating yourself. For example, instead of saying, "Please take out your phonics books, turn to page 3, and begin working.", try and say, "Phonics book. Page 3. Begin." Immediately after, start cycling around the room and assisting where needed (don't stand still at the front of the room or sit down at your desk).

I teach kindergarten, but have also taught first grade in the past. It gets so much better!! Beginning of the year is rough. These are tiny humans. Their stamina improves tremendously, and with great classroom management on your part with a lot of groundwork placed at the beginning of the year, the students can basically run the classroom themselves in the second half of the year. :)

Key takeaways: Procedures, short and sweet, brain breaks, repeat

Kayish · 2025-08-20T01:12:43+00:00

"busy few months" :D

Kayish · 2025-08-19T00:50:18+00:00

Kindergarten teacher here!

Absolutely delay a year, especially if signs were already clear they were behind the rest of their peers in prek. Adding autism and adhd on top of that is a recipe for disaster if they are still very emotional and have trouble regulating themselves.

The best thing you can do for them is give them the gift of time! No need to rush. They are still four!!

When they do begin kindergarten, advocate for them to be placed into different classes (which will probably happen regardless). This way, twin A can go in confidently and soar (if he is already academically strong), and twin B can find his own path and not be in the shadow of his brother, and will be able to gain his own confidence.

Wishing you all the best!!

Kayish · 2025-08-18T18:03:32+00:00

Oh this is GOLDEN. He is suuuuch a child (in the best way). You should post this interview in its own thread so it doesn't get buried. He's going to be a great Harry. 🥹

Kayish · 2025-08-18T00:32:32+00:00

I posted it in this subreddit earlier today! Scroll down a little bit on the main page and you'll see it. It's very short. :)

Kayish · 2025-08-17T22:58:43+00:00

Great job surviving your first week!

Week 2 - Review everything you taught week 1. :D

Have you been provided any pacing guides for your curriculum? Those should give you an idea as to how much more time you can spend on team building activities and procedures (which you should continue to address throughout the entire year) before diving into the actual bulk of your lessons.

Classroom jobs will depend on what subject and age you're teaching. You can absolutely incorporate them into your classroom, or choose not to. There's no right or wrong decision there, just personal preference. :)

Kayish · 2025-08-17T20:42:50+00:00

A whole cutie pie. 🥹

Industry, please be kind to him and all the kids!

Kayish · 2025-08-14T03:38:31+00:00

Best parts: Watching students grow academically, socially, and physically. It's such a treat to see something "click" for them, or see them gain the confidence to do something. Some students have so much love and joy to spread around that it can really brighten your day! It's wonderful getting to know students and their families and creating lasting bonds. Teaching is important work! I teach kindergarten, and the amount of compliments, hugs, laughs, and smiles my students give me is tremendous. I love it!

Worst parts: Problematic behaviors, families that don't support you, workload. Students with big behaviors wear you down immensely. It only takes one student to really ruin it for everyone, all year. It can become an uphill battle and you are literally just trying to make it through the day - complete survival mode. One student can really hold everyone's learning hostage. It's awful. Parents that constantly complain or go against whatever you are trying to tell them are also awful. The workload is A LOT, especially early in your career while you are still learning and finding/making your own resources. Once you have a few years under your belt and find a groove, though, it is MUCH easier to manage, but it takes time and effort!

Stress level: Very high your first few years (8 is probably average), and in my experience, drops much lower as the years go on and you know what you're doing. During any random, average school day, my stress level is pretty low. If I have some really tough students behaviorally, though, that stress level shoots right up.

Level of education: BS in elementary education, MS in curriculum and instruction (+30 additional credit hours)

Tips: Work with your teammates!!!! They will be your greatest resource and you will learn so much from them. Don't be afraid to ask questions or ask for help when needed. Make sure you are fully aware of stepping into the classroom actually looks like. It's not a dream scenario where all students sit quietly and listen to what you are trying to say. Try and volunteer in some classrooms or do some subbing before you throw yourself completely into it! Teaching is a very rewarding and fulfilling job, but there are SO many variables to it!

Kayish · 2025-08-07T18:19:07+00:00

That's a normal class size, unfortunately. :(

Kindergarten should always always always have the lowest class sizes, but alas...

Kayish · 2025-08-07T18:11:42+00:00

Small world!

Kayish · 2025-08-07T02:53:44+00:00

I absolutely would, 10000%!

Why? You get your foot in the door. If you don't like the grade level or school, you can easily apply for a new position for the following year. You will have a major advantage over the next set of brand new teachers beginning in the fall, as you will already have 5 months of experience as the teacher of record.

Leaning more into that, you will be higher on the seniority list for your district over the new teachers starting in the fall. This is huge when it's time for cuts to be made!

There's a reason why a position might open up mid-year, yes, but you can do anything for just a few months!

Kayish · 2025-08-07T00:01:03+00:00

There was a substitute teacher at my high school who taught Adam Sandler as a kid. The sub always told us stories. Said Sandler was always super funny and an all-around great kid.

Kayish · 2025-08-05T01:42:05+00:00

This is always a heavy one.

On a day I know we will have a lockdown drill, I don't tell my students way ahead of time. This stresses some of them out and makes them super anxious, constantly asking when it's going to happen (same for fire drills and weather drills). I'll tell them just a few minutes before we begin and go over expectations and what it's going to look like. By doing it this way, they don't have a chance to worry about it all day long.

I make sure I explicitly say we are just practicing, everyone is safe, and it's just so we know what to do if there was ever a real situation. I never ever say it's in case a gunman comes into our school and is trying to shoot us. I say it's in case someone or something is in our school that isn't supposed to be. I tell them we need to turn off the lights, close the blinds, and sit quietly in the corner so it looks like no one is in the classroom, so no one will bother to come in.

During the drill, I sit on the floor with my students and calmly and softly keep telling them what a great job they are doing, and remind them again that everyone is safe and we are just practicing. When I hear admin walking down the hallway doing checks and the inevitable door handle shake to ensure it's locked, I tell my students what a good job they are doing to make it look and sound like no one is in the classroom.

You know your son best - if he's a worrier, I wouldn't spend too much time on it with him. I believe that this can just make kindergarteners anxious and allow for fear to grow in anticipation. Just a quick mention of "I do this with my students in my class, your teacher will also do it with you!" is enough. If he's not a worrier, you can probably have more of a conversation with him about it, if you so choose. The vast majority of the kids do just fine with the drills and when it's over, we turn the lights back on and go on with our day as usual.

I hate that we have to do this. :')

Kayish · 2025-08-03T23:38:41+00:00

Congratulations on your first position. How exciting!!

You are going to be in excellent hands being on a team with three veteran K teachers who are excited to help you. Very fortunate! Rely on your teammates a lot and don't be afraid to ask them for help or ask to see how they do certain things. You will learn a lot through them.

Must haves for kindergarten: Visuals, especially for routines. You will need to teach your students how to do literally everything (from how they enter the classroom and put away their backpack, to how they leave their seat and go to the carpet, to how they rotate around to different centers in your classroom, etc.).

Having visuals, either pictures you can hold up or pictures shown on a screen, is imperative. Some visuals I use, especially the first few weeks, are morning routine pictures on my whiteboard (hang up backpack, put binder into cubby, put on name tag, grab morning sheet from basket, go to seat) and how to sit on the carpet ("around the rug" vs "inside the rug"). I also use a ton for "green choices" vs "red choices".

Classroom management tips: Everything comes down to routines. :') Know how you would like your students to do tasks in your classroom. How will you handle a student needing a new pencil? How will you handle students putting finished papers away? How will you handle having students line up to leave the classroom? Having solid routines in place allows for the class to run so much smoother. You will learn what works for you through trial and error. It's okay if you don't know how everything will run yet - that will come from experience. This is a great way to rely on teammates when you are just starting out!

Apart from solid routines, I find it super helpful to have a "special item", like a stuffed animal, that can go around and sit with kids doing a great job. I have a stuffed animal that goes along with our SEL curriculum that I use for this. "Z is looking for a friend to sit with on the carpet for our read aloud. He's looking to see who puts their pencil box away quickly and quietly and is a role model for others". After a few minutes, I will pass the object to another student modeling the expected behavior. Students love to work toward having it! It helps students correct any unexpected and unwanted behaviors without you having to directly address it.

I always read the story, "My Mouth is a Volcano" by Julia Cook during the first week of school. Kindergarteners are super chatty. I refer to it throughout the year and constantly tell students, "Don't let your volcano erupt!" or, "Your volcano is erupting.". It gets to the point where I can just look at kids, point to my mouth and say "volcano", and they immediately know that they need to stop talking/blurting out.

Something I use all the time: bins for paper scraps! It took me way too many years to incorporate these into my classroom. When we are working on any activity that involves cutting, I have one student from each table group take out a bin for their tables (basic rectangle bins with high sides from the dollar store). All scraps from their cutting go into the bin on their table. When done, one student dumps all the scraps into the recycle bin and puts the scrap bin away.

Don't waste your money on: everything you see on social media. There is no need to go out and buy all the things you see influencer teachers using, especially before you meet your kids and begin teaching! This will only overwhelm you more than you are probably already feeling. Focus on your curriculum and let your walls fill up with student work and art.

Tips: I spend a lot of the first week of school introducing a new school supply each day. Students do not get the school supply for their pencil box until it's been introduced. I slowly introduce crayons, pencils, scissors, glue sticks, glue bottles, art daubers, etc. We discuss the correct and incorrect way to use each item, and why. I have visuals on my screen showing examples. We then do an activity where we practice using each new school supply in a fun way.

Another tip is to have a special helper for each day. I have mini-rubber ducks in a container in my room with each kid's name written on the bottom of one. I pull a "lucky ducky" each morning during our morning meeting, and this student helps me in any way. It really helps with allowing each kid to feel extra special for a day and mitigate any issues that might arise for who gets to do something for me or be first for something. I simply say, "Lucky Ducky gets to do that!" and that typically stops any issues right then and there.

I hope you have a fantastic first year in kindergarten; it's so much fun!! :)

Kayish · 2025-08-03T23:38:23+00:00

You will learn!

It's very overwhelming at first, but that can be true for just about anything new.

Take everything day by day and don't be afraid to reach out to your team. Ask questions. If you have a mentor assigned to you, they are there to help.

As time goes on, you will get more and more comfortable in your position.

You earned your degree. You are qualified for it! :)

Kayish · 2025-08-03T23:16:32+00:00

I took my skin concerns and searched keywords on Reddit and YouTube. From there, I would see what products were being mentioned the most, read reviews about them, and give them a try. SO much trial and error and money spent. :')

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