Congratulations to Patricia Raina, from Suisun Valley K-8 School in Fairfield, California! Ms. Raina was one of three teachers from across the nation selected as winners of an NBC Education Nation essay contest.

Her idea? A new reality show: Kindergarten Teacher. Ms. Raina’s essay is cleverly written in the form of “rounds” Contestants try to move from round to round, although certain things disqualify a contestant immediately.

A snippet from Ms. Raina’s winning essay is below. Her essay in its entirety, plus the news segment covering the announcement, can be found here from KCRA Sacramento.

Round 1:
All contestants will be required to tie shoes, unfasten pants in a hurry while child is doing the “potty dance,” put on Band-Aids, give hugs, notice loose teeth, collect homework, listen to parents explaining who is picking their child up, remind one child not to lick the fish tank while holding another one’s hand to lead them to the carpet. All of these things must be done with enthusiasm and patience. Contestants who can make it through these first five minutes will go on to Round 2.

And it continues….

Round 4:
This Round tests how well candidates do under pressure. While teaching a lesson in Writing, a group of people carrying clipboards will enter the classroom and stand in the back and whisper. They are looking for “Good Teaching Strategies.” Contestants will: engage all students, focus on academic , refer to the standard written in kid friendly language, have the students repeat the standard several times during the lesson. The visitors will choose random students to answer questions. The students must be able to state what they are learning, why they are learning it, and how they will use the information in the future. Contestants should realize that the visitors will choose the child who does not speak English. Contestants of students who cannot answer these questions, or who do not get at least 10 check marks for “Good Teaching Strategies” will be eliminated. Congratulations are in order should any contestant to make it to Round 5.

Again, congratulations to Patricia Raina, for her humorous glimpse into the life of a kindergarten teacher!

Read more here .

About the Author

Joanne Meier has more than 20 years of experience in the field of education, including serving on the faculty at the University of Virginia for six years where she trained reading specialists and future classroom teachers. Dr. Meier was Reading Rockets’ research-to-practice consultant from 2002 to 2014, where she wrote the Page by Page blog — sharing best practices in supporting young readers at home and in the classroom.

Publication Date
September 16, 2011

Related Topics

About Reading, Classroom Management, English Language Learners, Struggling Readers
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