New Job Concerns

There’s still no set date for me to change jobs at my work. But it’s this month. We’ve started tentatively telling parents if it comes up naturally in conversation. Which means the only parents who know, are “my” parents. I work very hard to exchange at least a few words with every parent, every day. After all I’m the one who helps them with their homework (not the kindergarteners as they’re forbidden from doing their homework at school, but the bigger kids), I talk them through their romantic troubles (!!!!), teach them how to deal with bullies, and countless other things they might not bring up to mom and dad, but that they probably should. So a few parents know, although nothing has been said officially, there is now an “unconfirmed rumor” that Ms. Tina will be moving to the 2 year old room soon and a new school age teacher will take her place. I’m not really sure it’s what I want. I love my kids, I love my class. The only thing I don’t love about my job is the hours. I have to work full time if I want to move out of my mom’s house, which I desperately NEED to do, but… Do you know how big the difference between my youngest kid (5) and the oldest kid I will have soon is? From 2 to 5 is when kids learn all those things that are so basic, I’m not even really sure how to teach them. I’m used to being able to sit a kid throwing a tantrum in a chair and ignoring it, to teaching tactics to avoid bullies, to talking politics and religion with my kids. Now I’ll be teaching potty training and colors, shapes, numbers, and the alphabet. Even my boss is a bit unsure about this transition. She called me into her office to remind me that I can’t be sarcastic with them (duh), and what a big transition this will be. She assured me that I will be on 90 probation in the new position and that within that time, either of us can decide to move me back to my old position (which is reassuring). The old 2 year old teacher has been prepping me for the transition, but not in any truly useful way. I would prefer concrete things like an invitation to visit her class one morning so that I can see what she does. Her class just moved into her room (first day of school is our transition day), and it would be better if we could have some consistency. Instead, I’ve gotten a lot of jokes about how different it will be. Thanks, I’ve got that. Let’s try to make it easier on the kids shall we?
Anyway, the point of this post is to ask. Anyone have any advice for how to handle circle time with two year olds? How do I teach those basic concepts? How do I avoid having to wipe anyone’s poopy bottom? Anything!!