Are you having trouble wrapping your brain around teaching a new level?
When you’re used to teaching older students, it can be quite a shock to switch levels and think about teaching students as young as kindergarten. You’d think this would be a fairly uncommon occurrence (switching from teaching high school to teaching elementary). However, I hear questions about it quite often. Having gone through this experience myself, I’d like to share my thoughts in case it might be helpful.
If you didn’t initiate the change (or even if you did), I want to first encourage you to take the time you need to grieve. Acknowledging the sadness you feel about leaving your school & leaving your job as you know it can go a long way in working towards acceptance.
When I switched to teaching elementary, it was because our high school numbers were down and I was told my job would now be 80% elementary and 20% high school. I was shocked and nervous but ultimately grateful I still had a job in the district I love. Taking time to feel all the feelings really helped me ultimately move past them.
*I now teach elementary school full time and love it even more than I loved high school—it’s nice when things have a way of working out for the best.
Where do I start?
My first recommendation for teachers switching levels is to think about what you would like to learn about your new grade levels in your first year.
I had been teaching for 7 years when I switched, but I had a ton to learn about my new younger students! I intentionally sought out opportunities to learn about each grade level and I asked lots of questions. I observed other elementary Spanish teachers and I also asked the classroom teachers I worked with if I could observe them teaching a lesson. That combined with casual daily observations helped immensely as I learned about my new students.
Something important to keep in mind as you plan and teach lessons to younger students is: you are learning right along with them–and that’s a good thing!
-As you try new things and see how it works or doesn’t work, you are learning.
-When you ask if anyone has a question and you get 10 hands in the air, zero questions and ten stories, you are learning.
-When you think your directions are clear but no one knows what to do, you are learning.
-When you practice the new technology ahead of time and still find yourself troubleshooting in front of the class, you are learning.
It’s okay to learn the messy way.
Really, it’s okay to learn the messy way, as you go, with the students.
Be patient with yourself and give yourself grace. One thing I love about younger kids is they give grace freely.
Things I have learned about elementary students
Some won’t know how to write their name when they start kindergarten *Tip: write it for them with a yellow marker and have them trace
They all want a turn, all the time
It’s much faster for the teacher to make the partner groups (with younger grades k-2)
If you say yes to one child going to the bathroom, at least 5 more will ask to go
Kids love to hold things–using manipulatives is very engaging
Attention spans are much shorter and your lessons will need to move quickly. Keep kids guessing and embrace your silly side! I like to add movement breaks or activities that include movement within each lesson to help get the wiggles out.
You don’t need to say all the words–be very intentional about just using the words you need (especially when in the target language)
Awesome things about elementary students
They will LOVE you
You can convince them almost anything is fun
They are super willing to try new things (trying new words and sounds in their new language)
They love to be helpful–you’ll always have lots of volunteers if you need help with anything
They love school
They have tons of energy
You can do this
Switching levels (especially this big of a switch!) can feel like changing jobs entirely. Please remember to be patient and give yourself grace. Work on being yourself and enjoy getting to know your new students. It is so worth it in the end!
These posts might be helpful when preparing to make the shift from teaching high school to elementary Spanish class:
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The common 2020 phrase “We’ve got this” got old for me real fast. It didn’t bother me at first; but as the struggle increased and my goals shifted towards survival, I started to bristle each time I came across that phrase.
When we’re dealing with something hard, let’s name that. This is hard. This is SO hard. Learning to accept that we’re living and working under difficult circumstances is way more helpful than a flippant positive phrase, “We’ve got this!”
After we acknowledge the struggle, we can work on managing the day to day. We don’t have to “have this” in order to make it through this crazy time. We simply need to handle the present moment to the best of our ability. I think dealing with the ever changing reality helped me to truly start focusing on one day at a time. Completely re-doing plans on a minutes notice forces us not to look too far ahead anyway. Who wants to make plans that might get thrown out the window tomorrow? I’m a big fan of “tentative planning” this year. As in, I have an idea of where we’ll be next week but I’m not planning much further out.
One Day at a Time
When no one has the answers and everyone is figuring things out as they go, the best bet is to take things one day at a time. If that’s too much, break it down even further. Just make it through the morning, or your first class. If you’re struggling, please know I have been too. There are better days and days that seem hard for no reason at all. Just do your best and that’s all you can do.
Push Back
This brings me to my biggest takeaway from recent months. In our profession as educators, it seems we are always prepared and willing to “figure it out” and “make it work.”
Why must we accept this pressure time and time again? Requesting more resources or more time should not feel like we didn’t do our job or accomplish our goals. This year especially, we are asked to do too much. What if we pushed back a little and started working to balance our jobs with our lives? What would it feel like to do as much as you can in one day and then go home and start again the next day?
I know what you’re probably thinking. The job of a teacher is never done. There is no way to accomplish all the tasks on our list in 40 hours each week. BUT! I realized I cannot go on without at least attempting to find a better balance. I used to push myself to go above and beyond in everything. I take pride in my work and I want to do my best for my students. That said, a burnt out Señora isn’t what’s best for them.
Taking time and space for myself and my family makes me a better teacher. Slowing down makes me a better teacher. I know it’s always a work in progress–but I encourage you to find some way to slow down or find balance. It might not happen every day, but a start is a start! Easing up on yourself at least some of the time will help you make it through the other long days.
