Sorry for not posting last week. As most of you know, I started a new job last week. My first day was Tuesday, February the 4th. At 6:30am. Which is so, so very early. The morning routine I set up in my second blog is going pretty well. I only skipped breakfast one day, which I think is good. Going to bed at 8pm isn't very fun.
If I go right home, I get there about 4-4:15p which means I have 4 hours to do everything I have to do in a day, like cook, clean, pay bills, not completely ignore the cats. But I spent the weekend prepping for this week. Washed all the laundry with Ben during our first date day celebration. Made an egg bake so I had breakfast ready for every day this week, which gives me more time in the morning. Sadly, I only made breakfasts. I gotta make my lunch every night before bed, or rush to make it in the morning if I forget. Gotta load the dishwasher every day, cause otherwise I'm going to run out of Tupperware, or not have a clean to-go cup for coffee or tea in the morning.
My bus mentor is named Mr. John. He's a really nice guy. He taught me a lot and accepted when I showed that I already knew some of it. We talk a lot while we wait for kids too, he seems like a really good man.
I rode along Tuesday through Thursday last week, learning the best ways to the five schools on our route. Thursday I drove the bus with no kids in it after we dropped them off, then I did a dry run of the route (no kids) with our assistant director. I drove afternoon Thursday through morning yesterday with John.
John is an assistant teacher with our oldest pre-school kids, and they needed him in his room yesterday to maintain ratios, so they asked if I could handle it by myself. I said yes!
My classroom and main mentor is Ms. Kim. Her and her assistant teacher, Ms. Belinda, work with the potty training preschoolers. They come to our room when they show signs of being ready to potty train and stay until they are considered fully potty trained. So they average age is 2 and a half to 3 years old. They listen pretty well, and they are relatively nice to each other, besides a little bit of pushing and such.
The kids who ride my bus range from Kindergarten to fifth grade. Mostly boys;loud, rambunctious boys. All week long when John was in charge, he threatened them with a new seating chart, but never did. That first afternoon was enough for me to make one. Today I moved everyone around and it worked in the morning, so that's good. Still had some problems with the afternoon run. Another new seating chart for Thursday, for the afternoon at least.
My bus kids so far, do not like me very much. Which I really can't blame them for, so far all I've done is yell at them and move them away from their friends. Friday though, is Valentine's day. The kids don't have school, because they are on winter break, and at 3pm we're having a party, and I volunteered to stay and help. It'll be a long day, probably about twelve hours.
The teacher I am helping in the after-school room Friday was having trouble coming up with ideas for the kids. It has to be something easy enough for kindergartners, but interesting enough for the fifth graders. So I learned how to make an origami heart so that I can teach them. I cut paper today so they can make a practice one, then do a nice one where they write a note to their parents, sibling, or friends inside of the nice one. It's actually a lot easier than I thought, but we'll still have to go step by step together, so I'll try to stretch it to fill the half hour.
Also, thanks to my Aunt Noriko coming to my cousin Lukas and my preschool class, I know how to do "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes," in Japanese. It's relatively easy, and if they think it's cute, like I did, they will remember it for years to come, and also have this random talent to show kids whenever they'd like.
Hopefully those two things, as well as spending more time with them, will help. Playing games with them, talking with them, and eating with them. They will hopefully like and accept me more. Because respect, theirs for me, and me for them, is earned through trust.
So far though, I'm really enjoying it. The most boring part are these online trainings we have to complete, but even those have been pretty interesting. I finished the last of those online trainings today.
Besides being the bus driver, I am also a float. So I go from room to room, giving the teachers and teachers's assistants the opportunity for a bathroom break. Or I can run and get supplies for them when they need something. I'm basically just an extra set of hands, but that means that the adults are always happy to see me, because everyone needs something always. The kids are happy to see me, because I'm someone new to them; a new friend. Which feels nice.
The job as a whole makes me happy. Routine is nice.
With Kim, we fill out papers making sure I'm on track. One of those was to set three goals for myself for my second week. I picked three that seem pretty basic, but important.
1. Learn the most effective routes between the schools, as well as back up routes in case of weather, construction, or absences where one stop might be unnecessary.
2. Learn the names of every kid that rides my bus, as well as the ones I'm working with closely in Ms.Kim's room.
3. No child or belongings left behind!
Always gotta start with the basics, but from there, we grow.
As always, thank you for reading. Any questions or comments, please leave them down below.
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