Thursday, May 8, 2014

How Making a Beer Bong is Like Being a Doctor

In honor of Teacher Appreciation week and the next to last week of school, I wanted to share my own kindergarten 'teaching' experience.  

As I have previously mentioned, my son's kindergarten teacher is amazing and I am honestly teary eyed thinking about the year ending in one week.  Because she is open and wonderful, she invites any parent to come and talk about his/her career to the class.  I had the esteemed honor of talking to my son's kinder class about what it is to be a doctor.  As any good physician would do, I did my research.  I looked up articles on how to present to little kids, to keep them engaged and have fun.  I bookmarked 10 different websites with craft ideas, and scoured the city's dollar stores for enough funnels so all the kids could make their very own stethoscope.  I wanted to be infectious; they would all walk out of the class starry eyed and inspired to be physicians.

As a thank you each child drew me a picture and wrote a thank you letter (that the teacher transcribed for improved readability).  Here are a few examples of how I make an impact.*
Dr.  thank you for teaching us about veterinarians.  Love, 
(I mentioned the word veterinarian ONCE.)

The kids hung on my every word and I moved these two 'closer' to a career in medicine
Dear Dr.  thank you for coming.  I will maybe be a doctor when I grow up.  You didn't have to come.  I learned lots of things about the human body.  From, 
(FYI: SH1's mom you really didn't have to come.  I got it all figured out and you kind of sucked.)
Some kids simply wanted to thank me for being so entertaining and represented me visually in that positive light.
Dear Dr. you were great.  You should come back.  We all loved it.  Love, 
(A picture is worth a thousand words or in this case 16 words.  
#IAMNOTADEMON)
One little girl was counting the hours until we met again.
For Dr.  I love you so much that my heart it is big for you teaching us a lesson.  
(Is my biological clock that loud?!?!)
This child was very detailed and accurate in her depiction of the lesson (particularly her attention to my quadriceps).  I know she will go far in her medical career.
Dear Dr.  you are nice.  You are kind.  I loved when you teached us about bones and 
muscles and our heart.  It was so cool.  Love, 
(Why are my quads so huge here?  She must value my attempts at fitness)
I still look at all 24 letters and drawings and laugh every single time.  I wanted to teach them so badly about what it means to be a doctor. Things like how it is hard work and you have to like gross stuff, learning, and taking care of people.  I am not sure how much of my message really got through.  I do know that we had fun making stethoscopes out of funnels, duct tape, and toilet paper rolls and listening to our partners' heartbeat.  I reflect a little today on how my son's kindergarten teacher does this every day all day long and what an amazing and awe-inspiring person that makes her.  Thank you so much Ms. SH1's kindergarten teacher (you know who you are).  At the end of the day my efforts can be summed up by one parent's comments.  "Why exactly did you send my son home with a beer bong?"  

Cheers to a long summer and a lifetime of learning!

*I covered the names to protect the innocent (myself included)

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3 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh, those notes are amazing. Hilarious and so innocent.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The "demon" pic - hilarious!!!!

    ReplyDelete
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