Last Day of School

The last day of school is always a happy and sad day for me. This is probably true for most teachers. I'm so excited to start my summer vacation doing things with Austin, work around the house, and relaxing. Another part of me wants to continue working with the students. Today, I gave a few students either a great big hug (monster hug), a long goodbye wave as I watched a few students get on the bus, or a last saying of "Look at me" . A few will be graduating from Preschool next week and going off to Kindergarten in the fall and some will be coming back to Preschool one more year but at a different location.

Each year, I usually have an extra special student whom always challenges my teaching skills and patience. This year I had the honors of having a few, but the one who stands out the most this year is a child who I will address him by is "Mr. T". Due to the privacy policy of this child I can't use his real name. I met Mr. T in late February, he is a kiddo who has a hard time transitioning from one activity to another, he also doesn't like to share, hits other students, doesn't socialize with the other students, and hates circle time.

I was asked to work one on one with Mr. T to help him with his challenges. Usually right before circle time he would start to wander off and avoid circle time, it would be up to me to help him transition to circle and have him sit through a 30 minute circle time. Getting Mr. T to circle was my first challenge, I used a lot of verbal and visual prompts but nothing worked. I tried the famous "First and then" technique, this worked for a few circles but then stopped working afterwards. It wasn't until I noticed the other children were singing "Leo the Lion" extremely loud and off key that I noticed Mr. T covering his ears. It had turned out that Mr. T might have anxiety attacks every time he's at circle, which would explain why he hates and avoids circle time. I spoke to his mother and she stated that he is going to be evaluated for anxiety and a few other things as well. Up to this day Mr. T still avoids circle but we are continuing to try different techniques to help get through circle.

As time went on I have watched Mr. T learn to socialize with the othe kids more and more. I have witness Mr. T trade his tricycle for some bubbles with another student, play monster with the other students, and throw the ball as well. During our recess period, I will play "Monster" with my students. We will discuss what types of powers we are going to have such as, shooting marshmallows, whipped cream, ice cream, or my favorite the right hand will shoot honey and my left hand will shoot bumble bees. I never try to use powers that include weapons. After we discuss what types of powers we have, then we start playing monster. Of course, I'm usually the monster. I'll start by chasing the children around the playground and they start screaming. Mr. T always wanted to play monster, even when I didn't want to play.

Today was the last day I would play monster with these students so I had special powers today. My powers were "Monster Bubbles". I would blow bubbles at the students and they would have to avoid the bubbles, or they would become my monster assistants. We all had fun. But as good things come to an end, I had to start class again. In we went...

We used the penny board for Mr. T today and again it worked but only for a few minutes. That's a start. Mr. T played marbles, had snack, played with playdough and played with the water toys at the sensory table. It was now 10:45 time for our last circle before they go home. The penny board didn't work this time and Mr.T was kicking and screaming. There was nothing I could do to calm him down except remove him from circle. This was my last cicle with Mr. T and I didn't want to rememeber him this way. After circle the kids got up to put their backpacks on and line up. Mr. T is always the first to line up, it seems like he's just dying to get out of this miserable class. The children grabbed the rope and we all walked out to greet their parents at the front of the school. As Mr. T saw his mom, he gave me a "Hi Five" for the last time. His mother said "Mr. T give Teacher Rudy a big hug, it's his last day". Mr. T gave me the biggest hug he had ever given me and then another one. He said "Teacher Rudy my monster" and I said"Yes, Teacher Rudy is Mr. T's monster". I then proceeded to give his mother a hug and wished her the best and for Mr T too. As Mr.T and his mother walked off, tears started rolling down my face.

As a substitute teacher I am given the best of both worlds, I don't stay too long to get burned out with the same schedule or students. But I stay there just long enough to make a difference that will affect them the rest of their lives. And to think, I get paid for this. What a wonderful job!

Teacher Rudy
(AKA Mr. T's Monster)