Best Day in Education

 

As a Kindergarten teacher, every year is a roller coaster. My incoming class is exactly how Forrest Gump would describe a box of chocolates–you just never know what you’re going to get! I’ve had moments where I want to quit teaching because of the stress of managing a class full of 5 year olds while trying to meet academic expectations, but I’ve also had a lot of moments where I feel so grateful to witness the progress the students and I have made together. There are so many exciting moments throughout that year that frustrate me, defeat me, and make cry, but they’re not the moments that define me, my career, my students, or Kindergarten. When I reminisce and reflect on the year, I recognize the moments that have the biggest impact on my students academically, behaviorally, and socially. These moments bring excitement, inspiration, and sentiment to not only my students, but also me. I call these moments peak moments, which was a term used in Chip and Dan Heath’s book called The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact. Peak moments are positive memorable moments that keep me motivated to continue my career and improve as an educator every day. One peak moment, or best days in education, occurred during my first year of teaching. Usually, Kindergartners’ are celebrated with “Kindergarten Graduation" at the end of the school year. However, my school site’s tradition is to throw the Kindergarteners a school day party instead, called “Hawaii Day.” During Hawaii Day, students come to school dressed in their swimsuits, parent volunteers install decorations and water activities, teachers and staff prepare “airplane travel essentials” (e.g., intercom announcements, “in-flight” movie, snacks, plane tickets, passports, etc), and teachers and/or parents teach tropical themed lessons in each Kindergarten classroom. Each classroom rotates through the three Kindergarten classes and the playground every 30 minutes. Each class prepares a single activity, such as making a lei necklace, learning how to hula dance, creating volcano experiments, while the playground area acts as the "beach." The playground usually includes a sandbox, pool, water balloons, water games, and more. The entire school day is intended to be a simulation of Hawaii and watching all the Kindergarten students celebrate their first year of education together was the most rewarding experience as a first year teacher. This peak moment made me feel extremely proud of all the effort and perseverance my students put in as well as feel appreciative of all the support I have received from parents and staff to make not only my students’ first year of schooling, but also my first year of teaching a success.