Meet my Kindergarteners

Well, sort of. After a week of reflection and observations (and saying, "Sit down!" eleventy-billion times) I have figured out at least the personality types of my kids.

We have:

The Whiner
The whiner clearly gets everything he wants by whining every waking minute of his day. I do believe this lad actually whined through the Pledge. I know when his hand is up in the air, waving desperately at me because it sounds like there's a puppy in the room. Because I do not have the power of clairvoyance, I idiotically placed him beside the Quiet Instigator. Go me. When the two of them are doing some classic things like pinching, poking, and the latest rage, "blowing on one another's hair," he's laughing until the second they realize I am giving them the Teacher Look, and then he goes into full whine mode. "Ummmm, ummm, he's blowwwwwing me Mrs. C, he won't stooooooooop." When I remind him that he was laughing and never asked Q.I. to stop, he gets sullen and pouty. Yes kindergarten fans, this is one behavior that I will abolish, if it's the last thing I do.

The Quiet Instigator
The Q.I. is someone who is always cheerful and always smiling. He also always has one eye open for me, and the other eye looking out for a worthy target. He's got the "Who, me?" shrug down to an art. He's quite sneaky, and also is turning into the malevolent form of the Q.I.- the Stealer/Liar. I caught him stealing a marble from the marble jar last week, and he still seems to be eying it up every time he's near it. My goal for this little darling is for him to retain his love of taking chances, but transform them from the purpose of picking on others, to pouring himself into some positive interests.

The Little Bossy Girl, aka "Little Clara"
Lord have mercy on my soul- if I had a quarter for every time I say to Little Clara, "Are you the teacher? Please let him write his own name, so he learns how," I would be able to buy the glue made from professional racehorses, not some ghetto sway-backed ponies. This girl's head is on a swivel, and she is constantly in the state of touring the facility and picking up slack. She's actually helpful in that she ties shoes, and has already memorized every second of every routine, but man oh man is she intrusive. She's also another one where I can use her talents after I refine them a bit (like, get her to understand that she does not have the authority to tell another child to move their color to green!)

The Clinger
This kid is the kite to my tail. Literally. I keep having to shift his vise-like grasp to my leg, instead of my rear-end. He trails me about the room, hanging on for dear life, and when I am able to get him to sit down to do some work, he reaches out to grab me every time I walk by. He's gotten much better now that I make sure to give him a hug when he arrives, and stop by his table to pat his head every once in a while. This kid is the one that makes me wish I had a classroom with a rocking chair, stuffed animals, books everywhere, and other toys. I could probably sit and rock with this kid (and a few other clingers) and read stories all day. But, this cannot be.

They're all such neat kids- and I get more fun and hilarity with them tomorrow! I'll have to describe parent types on another day.