While in the checkout lane at a teacher store, the teacher ahead of me casually mentioned that she was counting down the weeks until summer break. I smiled, and told her I'd love summers off, but my Head Start agency is a full year program. She then says to me that it was too bad for us, but that they (elementary school teachers) deserve the summers off after all the hard work they do during the school year.
Well excuuuuuuuuuuuse me!
Oh I wanted to say something, I wanted to talk her ear off. But I didn't. Unfortunately, for those of us in the early childhood field, specifically preschool, we're used to this. Too often are we made to feel less than the "real" teachers of our school systems. Quite honestly, I'm tired of it. I'm tired of being looked down on by other educators. I'm tired of my job being compared to, and labeled as the equivalent of a babysitter, or day care provider.
To those I ask, Have you ever stepped foot inside a Head Start classroom? Have you seen the work that goes into each and every single day?
Lets see....
- We too create and implement detailed (multiple paged) lesson plans. Just like you, we are planning for groups of children, and planning for individual needs.
- While we don't hand out report cards, we are collecting detailed documentation on our students' development and learning.
- Just like you, we have random assessments and observations done. Our supervisors (Education and Health) can, and will walk into our classrooms without notice, clipboards and observation sheets in hand.
- We have various others who come into the classroom each year to assess our classroom set up (ECERS) and interactions (CLASS).
- We have parent-teacher conferences, AND home visits each school year. (Twice a year). Oh, and we don't get a student-free day to get these done. It's usually done during nap time, which also means most of us are giving up our lunch breaks for several days so we can get it all done.
- Speaking of nap time, do you really think it's a break? Nope. Not every child sleeps, and they definitely don't fall asleep instantly either, nor do they sleep the entire nap period. While we're working on documentations, files, conferences, and planning, we're also reminding a four-year-old to lower their voice so they don't wake their friends. We're keeping an eye on the child who gets up multiple times to use the bathroom, reminding them to flush and wash. We're kicking ourselves for forgetting to wake the three-year-old who sleeps hard and wets the bed. After getting them cleaned up, we're wishing the clock would go just a little slower because there's too much to still do and catch up on. Oh, and now we have about 8 minutes to eat lunch.
- There's a good chance that because of us, some of your students can sit still for large and small group instruction, can stay on task, and work cooperatively and independently. (You're welcome!)
- Our students don't have "specials" they go to, giving us a chance to get to the copier, or plan for an afternoon activity. The music, art, and gross motor exercise (gym) portions of their day are all done under OUR supervision, not someone else.
- Lunch time? Many of you walk your class to a large cafeteria where they eat. Not us. That eating frenzy happens right in our classrooms. Our students eat meals that are served family style. Do you have any idea how messy it is when you are mandated to allow a child to serve their own spaghetti, rice, tuna salad or soup from a serving dish?!?! We're talking 17-20 children serving just about every component of the meal on their own. Sure, some days runs smooth, like a well oiled machine. Some days, it's a scene right out of Hook, where the lost boys and peter pan are having a food fight. By the time our meal is done there's enough food on the floor to feed a few grown men.
- Do you have any idea how many children come to preschool not knowing how to properly use eating utensils, or sit during a meal? You probably don't because by time they get to you, we've already worked that out. (You're welcome, again!)
- Guess who cleans the mess up? Yup, us. During the 30 minute circus that follows lunch, we're cleaning tables and floors, supervising the bathroom usage, supervising tooth brushing (twice daily, might i add) and making sure beds are down, and bodies are safely resting on them (even though jumping on them is so much more fun).
- You know those weeks leading up to a new school year, where you have time to set up your classrooms? It's an exciting time. New materials, new bulletin boards. Color coordinating baskets to tables. I LOVE seeing it, and imagine the things I could do, if given the chance. For us, there might be a few (two) in-service days prior to Labor Day. Those days are usually consumed with professional development training. After a 3-day weekend, the new school year starts, just like that. It's hard to get excited about a new school year when the old one technically just ended a few days ago.
- You see there is no summer break for us. We're still collecting data for assessments, we're still implementing lesson plans and individualization, and now we have a classroom full of preschoolers (and teachers) who are just DONE! We're burned out, they're burned out. They have siblings home from school for the summer, they want to be home too.
- Speaking of summer, guess what we get to do? Recruit. You see, in your schools the children just come to you. Not for us. We are going out into the community, promoting our program, trying to bring families in, and showing them what we do and how it will benefit their children. While recruiting I've seen some scary things go down. I've witnessed multiple drug deals, and I've run down a street with several of my co-workers, trying to get away after seeing guns get pulled out during an argument among a group of men across the street from where we were.
I LOVE what I do. I LOVE being a preschool teacher, but please don't knock us down. You may be teaching them to add, and read, but because of what we do in preschool, it makes it possible for them to do what you need them to do in your classrooms.
Soooooo, tell me again how I don't work just as hard? A mile in my shoes my friend. A mile in my tired, preschool teaching shoes!
