Life of a Teacher

By Ellen, Evelyn, Anne, Louise, Gretchen, Patricia, Margaret, Barbara, Alice

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.  Right.  Plus the adult.  Eight in a circle, learning to color, laughing and smiling and things like that, which is good to see.  It’s a lot of children laughing, but the adult doesn’t look too laughy.  I guess with seven children, it would be a little hard to do.  

Trying to keep control is a major problem.  Every adult, sitting a little bit higher than the others, should have a plan to keep them interested. If I was a child again, I would go [the storyteller makes a sound like screeching tires].  Oh, I think I would go there.  

Act like a child.  Tell stories.  Have dessert or a snack - anything sweet - cupcakes, cookies, candy.  You can’t tell a kid what they are eating, each one eats something different.  The grown up says, “We don’t have all those things, but put your hand up if you want a cookie.  If you don’t, then I’ll eat it."  

The boy with the yellow shirt doesn't raise his hand.  He's scared that some of what the other children will do to him.  He turns around and smiles, and that gets him a cookie.  

If I had to keep seven children interested, I would leave home.  

Play a game that they like, that they can participate in.  Patty-cake.  Figure it out.  Run around in the yard.   Grass is something different than the concrete that they are used to.  It is green and it gives depending on their weight.  Soft and light.  

Why can’t you pull the roster?  The other people do.  It makes a big difference.  People know.  That’s where you ought to check.  Hide and seek.  

Act like a child - get to arguing with them.  As a school teacher, you have to do it sometimes.  The adult can laugh, too.  

Make a new story: I just run through the grocery store, grab it all, pay for it, and get home to the children.  

School is kids being gone, and all of a sudden they come pouring in.  You can’t always tell how the hell they got there.  

Check them and wash them.  My God, I’m June the third 1918, and I’ve had a long time since then.  I can go get the record.  

The kids are sick and go flopping on the floor, a lot of messes going on, when they are going to school.

You are sitting there like a darn fool while they play skippy.  You’ve got to figure it all out, and it’s not always easy.  Get acquainted.  The kids come and go and don’t always know who is Joe or Suzy.  

Stay there from beginning to end - a teacher, not a play track!  Kids are a dime a dozen.  I think I’ll throw my dime away.  Go ask the teacher.  Happily, the end.