OK, unless you haven’t noticed…I’m different from most kindergarten teachers. Really. It’s true. A majority of the kindergarten teachers are….wait for it….women. It’s true. I’m not a woman. Again, it’s so true. I am a member of a very elite group of male kindergarten teachers. People, it’s true. We are few and far between, but we’re out there. We are the male kindergarten teachers of the world!
I LOVE being a kindergarten teacher and bringing a male perspective to my classroom and the teaching world. And a sad fact is that so many of our students do not have a male presence in their life so I am honored and fortunate to be able to fill that void in some small small way! I definitely feel a sense of calling and obligation to be the best teacher and role model that I can possibly be for my students because I am a dude. I almost (honestly) feel the need to work harder and prove myself more each and every day.
Like I said, this is a very elite group and I’ve met some awesome male kindergarten teachers. I love finding other guys teaching kindergarten so we can share our experiences. DUDES WHERE ARE YOU!!!????
One of the friends I’ve made is everyone’s favorite YouTube star: Pete Harry from Harry’s Kindergarten. People, this guy is phenomenal.
And get this: he works with 6 teachers on his team and HALF of them are dudes. Yeah. 6 teachers. 3 of them dudes. AND his brother is also a Kindergarten teacher (Pete teaches in a rural setting and his brother teaches in an urban setting just like me!) !!! Isn’t that awesome?!?!?! MALE KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS UNITE!!!!!
I attended one of Pete’s sessions at the I Teach K conference and walked away with so many awesome ideas and ways to use his music in my classroom. Right now, some of our favorite “Harry Kindergarten” songs are Letter Rap, Superhero Counting, and Counting to 20. We love to rock out to Harry Kindergarten and his music. I even compiled a little music video of our class getting down to Harry Kindergarten. Here’s the best part: we’re moving and dancing but we’re also LEARNING! Learning and fun?! And dancing!? That’s a perfect combination!
Another awesome male kindergarten teacher who uses music and shares his talents with others is Dan Colquhoun of Dan The Rocking Teaching Man! Dan is from Sydney Australia!! I met Dan also in Vegas and he’s an awesome guy! I love his songs and videos on YouTube as much as my ‘staches do!
