Hey it's me Cindy!

Where to begin…

So much has changed for me.  I’m now one year and a half into my trek from kindergarten to THIRD GRADE and this is my first blog post.  GASP!  Never the less here I am ready to share some of my journey with you all.  From kinder through my first year as a third grade teacher in one longish post haha!  Thank goodness for winter break!

Kindergarten...

Let me start by saying that I LOVE KINDERGARTEN.  Their sweet little faces so eager to see you every morning, their toothless smiles, the hugs.  The look on their little faces the first time they read a word, count to 100, heck sometimes it was just counting to 10!  The pride in their little faces melting every bit of your heart.  To say I miss it is an understatement, but what I miss the most about kindergarten is the people I worked with.  All my friends, especially my bestest (I don’t care if that’s not a real word lol) amiga Sandra.  It’s a scary thing leaving what you know for something you know NOTHING about, but I felt like the time was right.  It was an easy decision knowing I had their full support no matter what.

Third grade…

So M.G. Ellis is an Early Childhood Center with a campus full of pre-k and kindergarten students.  To move up I had to switch to a “regular” school.  YIKES!  So, there I went.  From the first meeting, to setting up my room, I felt like I was swimming upstream.  The term learning gap was the mantra of my year.  I was amazed with what my 8 and 9-year-olds were expected to do.  New grade level, new administrators, new colleagues, it was all so overwhelming.  I was placed on a three person team with two hardworking educators who helped me make it through this very though year.  Thank you, Mrs. Sanchez and Mrs. Martinez.  I taught reading, writing, science and social studies to 3 very different classes.  Two dual language classes and one very culturally diverse ESL/Regular Program ELA class.  Not only did I have Spanish speaking ELLs last year, but I also had students from several countries in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.  I learned that third graders are still sweet, still love to hug their teacher, and know how to push buttons haha!  So now not only do I love kinder, I also…LOVE THIRD GRADE!

The year flew by…

Before I knew it, my first year of third grade was over!  It felt like my first year of teaching many days, but with the support of my teammates and upper grade vets that came to my rescue when I needed it, I survived.  I missed my friends and the familiarity of what I had been doing for 10 years at the same school and feel stronger for having taken a leap for myself.  More than anything, what helped  me make it, was the fact that I was never alone.  Sandra was always there giving me her unwavering support through all of my struggles, even when she was learning to navigate without me too.  I feel like our friendship is stronger than ever.  Thank you for everything, amiga, I love you to pieces.  Here's to a new year of love, friendship and becoming BETTER bloggers in 2018!

-Cindy

 

Coming soon…

KDLD Winter/Snowman Unit!