Being a second year teacher, I have brought my experiences and lessons learned from year number one to be a better teacher in year number two. A very important thing I learned was to be strict and stern with the kids. Last year I became "Nice Katie Teacher" too quickly and I lost my ability to take control of the classroom. This year, things are different. I implemented behavior rules the first day with both classes and I do not back down. I learned last year that a threat is just a threat unless there is follow through. Part of me last year didn't want to punish the kids because they are so young and they have so much pressure to succeed, I didn't want to add to that stress. But this year I have learned I must follow through with threats and behavior rules.

Each child has two sticker charts in the room. One chart is for behavior and the other chart is for participation and staying on task during lessons. During the lessons, kids can get 2-4 stickers for their participation charts. These charts are big and it takes them awhile to fill the whole thing, so giving them 4 stickers isn't a big deal. The other board, the behavior board, they can only get one sticker a day. They have to be good the entire day to get a sticker on this board. Once they get 5 stickers on this board, they get a prize from the prize box. The prize box is a huge deal to the kids so they have to try hard to get the stickers. Last year, I was not strict enough with behavior and having the kids really earning the prize box. This year, I have already made it hard to get prize box and the kids get really excited if they get a "prize box" sticker at the end of the day.

I have two classes again and one class, Colorado, has great behavior; I don't have to be "mean Katie Teacher" in that class. That's not to say I'm not strict and stern but I am much more friendly in Colorado class than I am in Utah class. In the first 4 days, most of Colorado has earned "prize box stickers." This is not the case in Utah class. Utah class is a whole different story!

Utah class is exhausting. There are 10 kids in the class and some days it feels like 25! There are 3 boys and 7 girls but some days I swear there are 8 boys in there! One of the boys, Elliott, is not physically able to have an indoor voice. Now, I should be the last one to criticize people for being loud but oh my!! This child has two volumes, loud and earth shattering! I probably spend 40% of my time saying, "Elliott, indoor voice." The rest of my time is spent making sure Solomon is in his chair and not pulling on the blinds by the window. Or it's making sure Sally's and Evy's books aren't touching, at all!! Because the world might end if they are. Or I have to make sure Maureen isn't making sure everyone is on the right page or following along, while she can't even manage to know what story we are even reading!

Then there is Ivy. Ivy has a twin sister, Irene. Irene is in Colorado class. Now this doesn't sound like it would be a problem, unless you are 7-years-old. Irene and Ivy have been in class together since they came to the school as 5-year-olds. For some reason, the school decided to split them up as 7-year-olds. Now, I'm not a fan of putting siblings in the same class, but if they have been in the same class for the past two year, where is the logic of splitting them up as 7-year-olds? Today, Ivy started crying in my class and would not stop. I had no idea why she was crying and she could not tell me why she was crying, all she could say was that she wanted to see Irene. At this point, I had no idea they were sisters (they aren't identical twins) so I didn't really understand why she wanted to see Irene. Since I had to get back to class, I got Irene from Colorado class and asked my partner teacher, Crystal, to see if she could talk to them in Korean so they could express themselves easier. Crystal let Ivy stay in Colorado class with Irene because when she came back to Utah class, she would just cry and cry and cry.

I told Ellie, our assistant director, what happened and she said she would help me if Ivy kept crying. Well Ellie's way to "help", was to yell at Ivy and tell her that 7-year-olds don't act like that. Now, I do want to be strict with the kids but this just seemed heartless and cruel. Ivy is 7-years-old and has been with her sister for 2 straight years, and just like that she is pulled away from her. Ellie seems to think keeping them separate is the best thing to do, even though when Ivy is in Utah class she doesn't participate and she is quiet and sad. Then when she starts crying, she doesn't stop and I can't take care of my class and Ivy at the same time. The way I see it, they need to put Ivy back in class with Irene. This will not only help Ivy but all of Utah class. But that's just what I think and why would the administration listen to their teachers?

Hopefully Crystal and I can convince Ellie to put the two back in class with each other. Otherwise, Utah class will be even more exhausting!