Adventures in Student Teaching: The One with the ABC Song

Adventures in Student Teaching is a blog series that features the adventures Concordia student teachers have in their classrooms and host homes.

by Hope Moural

Before joining her small class of eight kindergartners at Trinity Lutheran School in Lincoln, Angie Steinbacher took a visit to get to know them. She sparked conversations with the students, asking questions like “Do you have brothers or sisters?” and “What do you like about kindergarten?”

Steinbacher says that most of her encounters with the students were straightforward until she approached a boy who was working diligently at his desk.

“Before answering any of my questions, he had to get a few things straight with me first,” Steinbacher said.

The student then proceeded to ask her if she was to be their new teacher.

Steinbacher answered that, yes, she was, which prompted the student to ask this question:

“Do you know the ABC’s?”

Steinbacher confirmed that she did indeed know the alphabet before being asked by the child to sing the alphabet as evidence. She then sang the ABC song and the student’s facial expression changed into final approval.

“Okay, good,” he said before getting back to work.

“I’m beginning to wonder why I spent four years at university if my only qualification necessary to be a teacher is to know how to sing the ABC’s,” said Steinbacher.