Team Dino

I was a bit nervous when I got the schedule for this week, because I saw that I was going to be the lead teacher for the first four hours of the day. I had never opened the classroom by myself and I was worried about keeping the routine for the kids. Routine is an important part of a toddler's daily life and one of the many things I admire at CLP -- the classrooms are divided up by age, and as the kids gain a year and a new classroom, they build upon the foundation of that which they've already learned and experienced. Sitting together for meals, for example, starts when they are just babies and their table responsibilities increase as they get older.

Anyway, it's an amazing learning program and I didn't want to screw anything up. But the extra responsibility came in conjunction with spring break at the university, which meant a class half the normal size. The Dinos were awesome and I rocked the morning. I have to say, I liked it a lot. I increasingly have creeping thoughts about how I would run a classroom, the projects we would do, etc. The Dinos are a bright bunch, many with some raw musical and artistic talent.

I did miss the lead teacher. It's funny, teaching in a team, how one begins to rely on that other teacher. We tag team the days and work off each other's energy and style. It's the same in every profession: a good team with good communication and intuition is key.

In other news, I was too lazy to walk to the grocery store for milk after work and I dropped red pasta sauce on my roommate's dog (who has white fur).