Once again I was at Ron Brent Elementry for my practicum day. Similar to my last experience, I was placed in a kindergarten class, however, this time I had a very different experience compared to the last visit. In the morning I was greeted by the classroom teacher Ms. Leone. Right off the bat, she informed me of the fact that she expected a small class due to the fact that we had just received a snowfall. Apparently, a large proportion of Ron Brents’s school population (even kindergarten kids) walk from home to the school building. For this reason, a snowfall usually means attendance will fall dramatically. In her prediction, Ms. Leone was absolutely right. Beginning the day, the class only had three students in it. Although this increased by the end of the day to 6 students, I was still shocked by the classes’ low attendance numbers.

In every sense of the word this day was “weird”. Our day began with a remembrance day assembly divided by learning groups. Given the fact that the two kindergarten classes were combined, to form a learning group, the total assembly (being exclusive to the 2 K classes) only had around 18 students in it. The assembly was good and I feel that the school did an admirable job in making the service impactful, given the circumstances. After this, the class returned to their room and continued as normal for a short time, however, within an hour Ms. Leone was told that she needed to practice an evacuation drill. Upon hearing this news, students were gotten ready and walked across the street. Although this sounds like a small task, it really was not. Given the fact that it is winter Kindergarteners are generally required to wear both a coat and snow pants. Getting kids in and out of these items takes forever. Honestly, I would say that the transition takes between 20 to 25 mins on both ends. For this reason, having an unexpected drill like this really did cut into class time.

From my experiences in kindergarten classes, I have made the decision this age group is not for me. Do not get me wrong, the kids are great and I enjoyed my time in the class very much, however, I feel that I would prefer an older age group. On my next day of observation, I hope to go into an intermediate classroom again. At Heart Highlands Elementry I had the opportunity to see an older grade and I must say I really liked it. I am grateful for my time in the schools so far. I have learned a lot and hope to continue learning in the future.