Every year, for the last five, I’ve driven the short distance to the elementary school where Kara teaches kindergarten. She likes me to come help prepare for the new year and I’m honored she asks.
I have a very important job. I erase the names from last year’s students and write a new crop of names in their place, using my “best kindergarten” print. I always have to relearn kindergarten print, because my own writing is a custom mix of cursive and print. It helps that Kara has cheat sheets tacked on the wall.
Over and over and over I write, until I find my kindergarten groove, until my too small and illegible letters transform into nice tall letters that fit snug in solid and dashed lines. By the time I’ve finished writing the list of names five or six times, I begin to wonder what the student’s faces look like, what kind of students they will be, whether they will have first day jitters or whether Kara will (from their being in her class.)
Today being my fifth take and all, I’d graduated to being left on my own, while Kara attended a teacher’s meeting. I had planned to arrive by 8:20 but of course I was late. I called — told her it would be more like 9:00 — but after stopping at Sonic for the required Vanilla Coke, I was running 15 minutes late on late.
It’s my fault I arrived to a dark silent room. Tuning on the lights, I spotted the list on the table, right next to the teachers U-shaped desk. Item one: “Erase old names. Write new names.” I looked around, saw the new class roster and the pile of names to shuffle. Item Two: “Add new names to Leader Caboose.” My eyes dart around looking for a train. What’s a leader caboose? Have I ever seen this?
It’s funny how the combination of not knowing the “right” answer and being in Kara’s classroom sent me back to my own first grade jitters of trying to guess what the teacher wanted. I never ever knew. First grade was an absolute Mystery. The only thing I knew for sure was Mrs. Randall did not like me.
I picked up my journal to capture my experience. As I write, in walks Kara. “Hey, Mom. I came in earlier but you weren’t here. Thanks for coming.”
“Hey, what’s a leader caboose?” Kara points to the wall by the door. There’s no train. Just two vertical columns of nameless cards. The cards keep track of turns for girl and boy leaders for each week’s kindergarten caboose — I’m guessng the student caboose travels between various school destinations — bathrooms — music lessons — recess — lunch.
With one mystery solved, I point to the other wall and ask Kara about her “Monster Of The Week” spot, recalling again my own first grade teacher’s dislike of me . “Honey, I’m not sure whether your students will want to win this award. Who wants to be the class monster?”
Kara laughed. “Oh, it has nothing to do with the students being monsters.”
But back at home and way out of the kindergarten groove, I still haven’t a clue what monster-of-the-week is all about. And now I’m beginning to wonder whether Mrs. Randall liked me after all.
an everyday life 
This is your 6th year Momma! Thanks again for helping me out.
Mystery #1- The “leader” is my daily helper and they lead the class line when we travel outside of the classroom. The “caboose” is at the end of the line and turns off the light/closes the door when we leave the classroom.
Mystery #2- The “Monster of the Week” is actually a fun way we introduce the colors and color words each week to the children. For example, the first color monster is Red and the saying with him goes…”Red, Red forgot his head.” It rhymes and is silly (which the kids seem to like) and he is an actual monster I’ve drawn that is missing his head. The kids laugh and every Monday a new color monster is revealed from behind the red curtain. Since your favorite color is yellow–maybe you’d like “Yellow, yellow sat in jello.” Anyways, when you come back for a visit I’ll show them all to you.
Love,
Kara
Kara,
It’s always good to have some mysteries solved.
I like the idea of mixing learning and fun. My third grade teacher did this like no other teacher in my life — every learning exercise became a game and we couldn’t wait to number off in groups of two or three and compete for the prize — usually something like bragging rights or shining up the chalk board at the end of the week.
There is something though, about spending time in an early education classroom that for me, collapses time into the thinnest of walls. I walked away from Tuesday’s assignments thinking Mrs. Gruff Randall probably liked me after all — and just thinking this, made me feel as if I’d won Tuesday’s prize.
Thanks again for inviting. Prayers to you and your students.
Mom
I’m so pleased to see those letters marching around the top of the classroom. It’s good to see that some of the basics do remain, just like that lined paper to help tiny hands just learning to form letters!
Linda,
It was good during my visit to reacquaint myself with other classroom staples hiding amidst the new fangled computer and electric pencil sharpener.
Though the photos didn’t make the cut, I captured a digital image of a flag that still hangs high on the wall at a 45 degree angle. Sitting beneath it was a globe of the world. Missing was the big photo of the current U.S. President, which at our grade school, always filled space between flag and globe.
In this time of education cuts, I was please two of three old classroom staples (in addition to the alphabet parade which you admired) were survivors.
Janell