You Can Call Me Mrs. R.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

As a beginning teacher, where I live, you must do a period of substitute teaching before getting a teaching contract. Shortly after graduating from teacher's college, I was supply teaching in a kindergarten classroom, in a nearby city. Back then, some kindergarten kids went to school for a half day only.

Kids either went in the morning or afternoon. It was like that when I was a kid too. It was truly the best of both worlds for me. Half a day of school and half a day hanging out with my sweet mom. 

When you are substitute teaching, and only have a half day assignment, it doesn't give you a chance to get to know the kids very well. When I arrived in the classroom that morning a sweet little ESL (English as a Second Language) student was very happy to see me. He proudly said with very calculated words "Good morning! I am John, and you are?” I could see that English was indeed a factor and Romualdi is often a very hard name to remember and pronounce.

To make it easier on the little guy, I said clearly and slowly, pointing to myself, "You can call me Mrs. R." John then sweetly replied without missing a beat, "Oh welcome, you can call me Mrs. R!"

I didn't have the heart to correct him, nor did I think he would even understand my explanation, so I just left it at that. I walked away with a big smile and a very unforgettable welcome to kindergarten story to cherish. 

Sending you a smile,

Dana 

Copyright: © 2024 littlelessonslearnedbydana/ chucklesandchalkdust   
(Dana Romualdi)

Tags: teaching memories, elementary teacher, substitute teacher, occasional teacher, classroom teacher, classroom stories, Canadian teacher, early years classroom, welcome to kindergarten, kids say the funniest things, teaching memories