There once was an elementary school teacher...

...who really knew she wanted to go back to being a preschool teacher.

Three weeks ago, on the first day of school, I was pleasantly surprised.  The energy, the interests, the conversations, the WRITING!  I knew from the first moment I took the job that it was going to be a new and exciting challenge.  That first week, I observed these five- to ten-year-olds at play and at work, thinking about how I could best implement community building, projects, writing, reading, and math...while promoting the freedom of choice and identity that the school values.

Two weeks ago, the preschool students started.  It was wonderful to welcome them into the school community, and I immediately found myself drawn to sitting on the floor near them, watching them play, and talking with them.  I thought about how our environment helped or hindered the explorations of preschoolers or the older students - every decision seemed to help one group and be less than ideal for the other group.  I observed the preschool children as they moved through the day and through the space and thought, "I'd rather be on that journey with them."

One week ago, the owner of the school approached me and said she was feeling a bit overwhelmed with the preschool and was going to start looking for someone to run the preschool.  I knew I wanted that someone to be me, and things fell into place: an assistant teacher from last year stepped up to take over the elementary school program, and I expressed my interest in helping create and teach in the preschool program.  I'll spend this Sunday creating a preschool space in the upstairs of the school, and we'll jump in on Monday morning.  I'm thinking Elmerwill kick it all off.

I hope to get this blog back to the good old days, 2008-2011, when I blogged often about what was happening in my classroom and in the world of early childhood.