Thursday, September 28, 2006

Dezi Rollins, Preschool Teacher

Posted 8:35 PM by Dezi Rollins, LSSP | 0 Thoughts

I realize that the past few blog entries have been about my job. I've been seriously thinking about doing a blog entitled Diary of a Preschool Teacher just about that, for those of you who get bored with hearing about my job in every entry! (Doesn't it also sound like a great book title?)

Anywho, last week and this have been great. We've done all sorts of fun projects! Sometimes they don't exactly work out the way I planned, but they still look good. My favorite one is either the September 11th project, or the leaf rubbing project. The kids loved it when they rubbed the crayons on the paper and saw the leaf patterns! I've taken some pictures, I'll post some after I take a few more. From what I've been told, the kids really like coming to my class. I had one more kid sign up, and one move away, so that means as of next week, I'll have six kids on Monday, Wednesday & Friday, and four kids on Tuesday and Thursday.

I'm still really enjoying the job, although I feel that somedays all I do is "yell" at the kids. I love finding creative projects and activities to do! On Monday, it's Snoopy's birthday (he's 56! I didn't think that was possible for a dog, but okay), so we're making Snoopys out of toilet paper rolls and a template. Next week is also Fire Safety week, so we're doing a couple of projects related to that.

As far as other events, I helped throw Heather a surprise birthday party last Saturday night! I really enjoyed the planning and am very glad we were able to pull it off. She was very surprised and loved her presents! Holly and I got together and bought her a pink and black outfit, complete with really cute earrings! She looked great in it, and the rest of us looked great in our black party dresses!

David had another trip to Arkansas this week. We journeyed to the airport Monday morning, and I picked him up yesterday afternoon. I did enjoy having the apartment to myself, but I really enjoy having David home again! This weekend, we have our church's monthly date night. We are going to enjoy an evening of dinner and dancing! Saturday, I have a performance with the Frisco Community Band at the Great Steak of Texas. I highly doubt they're going to have a lot of vegetarian options. It'll be a great time!

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

A Bevy of Beads

Posted 8:03 PM by Dezi Rollins, LSSP | 0 Thoughts

Today was not a great day. Yesterday was absolutely wonderful! No one got hit, the kids got along, and they enjoyed the activities that I had planned! Plus the weather outside was fantabulous! I went home totally pumped about today's activities, and worked on some of them last night.

When I went to work this morning, my nose was a bit stuffy. Unfortunately, it got worse as the day went on. Add to that six kids all wanting my attention at once. By the end of the day, it was a full-blown cold, and I had no patience whatsoever. The kids weren't bad, I just didn't feel good.

We had done an activity that involved stringing beads a couple of weeks ago, and the kids really enjoyed it and did well. However, such was not the case today. The box of beads (shoebox size) wound up overturned on the floor. This meant beads everywhere! Three of the kids were playing with the beads (e.g. throwing), and the other three were helping me pick up. Unfortunately, while they were certainly trying, they were more or less getting in the way. Finally, I plugged in a movie and told them all to sit and watch, which they did (while bringing me a found bead sometimes). I had the box all packed and was putting it on the shelf, when something fell into the box and I dropped it. There went the beads again! Luckily, someone was walking by and helped me pick up beads again. Grrr! I was not happy about it.

I went to band tonight, but was sent home. I took Sudafed (or Wal-Phed) and it is not working. It's making me feel drugged, not better. Oh well, David's on his way home and is picking up some meds as well as the best medicine, chocolate. I know I'll feel better soon!

Friday, September 15, 2006

A Day at the Zoo!

Posted 5:50 PM by Dezi Rollins, LSSP | 0 Thoughts

It is Friday afternoon, and I am very glad the weekend is here! I have had a screamer in my class this week, especially today. He hit another kid, and then managed to get his shoe off while having his tantrum. He then proceeded to throw his shoe around until I was able to get to him. I wound up with a bruise on my ankle (a small one) for my efforts in trying to get the shoe.

I kept the shoe until he was able to calm down enough for us to talk about not hitting our friends. I also talked with his mom about it, so she's aware of the problem. For the kid who got hit, I had written an incident report. He didn't get hit that hard, and there was no mark. His mom was very nice and understanding, and she didn't blame me for what happened. I realize that sometimes boys play a little rough, but there is no excuse for hitting, and I make that quite clear to the kids.

Since we had several of the staff out today, I had been asked by the director if I could stay past my normal time to leave to help give people their lunch breaks. I got to spend time in three different classrooms, plus mine. During the first class, I watched the class during nap time. Unfortunately, one kid woke up, saw I wasn't her teacher and proceeded to be loud and wake up the other kids. Two kids decided they needed to use the restroom and took forever! When I saw that one kid was playing instead of using the restroom, I sent him back to his cot. I finally got the kids to calm down by telling them how sad their teacher was going to be, and pretending to write notes to their parents. (Never mind that I had no idea what their names were.) They were very sad when their teacher came back and I told her how they had acted and gave her the "parent notes" that I had written.

On to the next class. I relieved the teacher while she went on a quick break. This class was also having naptime, but they never moved. When the teacher got back, she and I had a nice chat, comparing stories from the front lines! My last class was to assist in the infant room. I was only in there for about twenty minutes. I fed a couple of babies and entertained a couple more. I'm definitely glad that was the last room I went to, then I left on a positive note instead of frazzled!

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Preschool Pandemonium!

Posted 10:51 PM by Dezi Rollins, LSSP | 0 Thoughts

I have made it through four days of teaching the Mother's Day Out program. More importantly, so have the kids! I've had five kids in my class the past two days. It is definitely a challenge, but I really enjoy it! I turned in my lesson plans for this week on Friday, she said they looked great! I took some ideas from the curriculum, some ideas from other places, and a couple of things that I just thought up! My child development background, as well as my knowledge of behavior techniques is really coming in handy! However, I know it'll get easier after we've established our daily schedule. It already is going much better just after a few days!

We've done several craft projects, the one I'm most proud of is the United States maps that they painted yesterday. I found a coloring page map, printed it out, got some red, white & blue paint. The kids had fun painting their maps, then they put red glitter on top of it. I then cut out the maps today and glued them on blue construction paper. I thought they all turned out very well, and the parents liked them, too! I may post some pictures of the projects on here!

As far as other things, Merry Music Maker rehearsal started on Sunday. We had over twenty kids show up! I did a dramatic reading (with audience participation) of Green Eggs & Ham. They seemed to really enjoy that. It was also our first meeting of our new Sunday school class. That also went really well, we had eleven people attend, it led to some good discussion. I'm looking forward to next week!

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Labor Day Weekend!

Posted 6:09 PM by Dezi Rollins, LSSP | 0 Thoughts

Every year the youth goes on a Labor Day retreat. David went last year, this year we both did! After changing out of our church clothes, we stuffed some of the kids' stuff in our trunk and three kids in the backseat. We then drove off to Rockin C Ranch for some fun and fellowship. The way there, we drove through several small towns, that was pretty neat.

When we got there, we unloaded and had free time. I wandered around, watching some of the different activities: horseback riding, ropes course, swimming, kayak/canoing, etc. I talked with several of the kids and other adults as we watched the kids run around. I did test out a couple of the swings, which was pretty cool.

We also had some devotional time. I thought Leanne & Jessica did a really good job with those! I also had a not-so-fun experience. I got stung by a hornet! I was taking a drink out of my Coke can and it was in there apparently. Yuck! It hurt, but it wasn't horrible. David got me some ice and I put some ice on it and drank cool water. The sting was right on the tip of my tongue! It hurt less and less as the day went on. Today it doesn't hurt at all! Oh well, it makes a good story and I get to stick my tongue out at people to show them!

As far as other news: I got a part-time job! I am the lead teacher for a Mother's Day Out program at Preston Kiddie Kollege! The pay is decent, and I really like the hours. I work from 9-2:30, Monday through Friday. That gives me time to have my piano lessons, study, do research, etc. I spent today in training, tomorrow I'll set up my room! The kids start on Thursday. The curriculum is provided, I'll develop lesson plans and write a weekly newsletter. I already have the one for this/next week finished! The kids are the same age as my Merry Music Makers, so it's an age I'm used to. I'm looking forward to it!

Friday, September 01, 2006

Life Lessons Over Linguini

Posted 3:08 PM by Dezi Rollins, LSSP | 0 Thoughts

Okay, we were actually eating tortellini and fettucini primavera, but the title flowed better if I said linguini. (Call it artistic license!) Heather and I went to lunch on Tuesday. I had a coupon for an Italian place in The Colony, so that's where we went. The food was okay, but the conversation and company was what made it great.

We'd been talking about our life goals a lot recently. I'd been struggling with burnout from school, and Heather is at a crossroads in her life. I mapped out a plan for school and plan on sticking to it! It looks like I will finish in May of 2009. That seems such a long way away, however, it will be here before we know it. Maybe not getting a school district job is the best thing that could happen, since it will give me time to focus on my research and studying for my comprehensive exams.

Heather has decided to become a high school history teacher, and someday a principal. Wouldn't it be neat if we wound up at the same school? We think it would. Especially if we could get Becky there as a band/choir director. It would be so much fun! Seriously, though, I'm so happy for Heather. I truly think she's made a great decision and I know she will be a wonderful teacher and principal.

Who knew we'd be mapping out our lives over lunch?