Life of a Preschool Teacher

I’ve been a preschool teacher for the past 5 years. It’s a fun job, getting to spend time with little kids and being a part of their developmental stage. I never had kids of my own, for I’m a single, unmarried woman in her late 30’s, so working as a preschool teacher offers me a great degree of happiness and solace, for I get to channel my entire energy into the care of my school kids.

I work for a reputed preschool in NYC, so they demand a certain standard of work from us teachers. It is not much and is well within my capabilities as a teacher. I’m somewhat of a perfectionist myself, so that really helps their cause. But that is not the matter of discussion here, no. This post is about how a preschool teacher spends her typical day at work.

The first thing to do is arrive well before time, not ‘right on time’. It is because we have to arrange our classroom stuff, set up the course for the day and plan the activities that are to be carried out. I make myself a cup of coffee to eliminate the tingling sense of laziness that remains when you wake up at 6 in the morning.

When the children start to arrive, we teachers scramble to make sure that kids reach their classrooms safely. Parents usually leave them at the gate; it is a rule in many of the preschools in NYC including mine.

Then comes the prayer time. We gather all the kids in formations and teacher recites them, encouraging kids to sing along. This is usually done to make a positive start to the day.

The classes go on as usual, followed by occasional play-breaks to keep things interesting and to keep them focused. The lunchtime gets messy sometimes, with kids seemingly more interested to toss around food rather than gobble them up. But hey, they are kids after all, and it’s our job to make sure they don’t play with food. Nap-time usually follows, and we teachers get a short break from the commotion.

Fast-forward to the end of the day when we finally wrap things up for the day, and the happy kids rush back to their parents’ open arms, signifying that they had a very enjoyable day. Tired but content, we finally close up and head back home.