Saturday, August 18, 2007

Bouquets of Newly Sharpened Pencils

That time of year is once again upon us. Either you are already in school, trying to beat the heat (like me) while learning or teaching; or you are savoring the last few days of summer before school starts; or you are not heading back to school this year, but you can still feel the anticipation and excitement of a new school year...perhaps remembering back to when you were a child.

My second year has gotten off to a sweltering start. With temperatures well above 100 here, it is a bit sticky and hot in a school that is still working out the kinks in the new air conditioning system. Oh well, as frustrating as it is, in the grand scheme of things we'll all be okay. Besides that, the only other mishap I've had is 2 boxes of books that had to be discarded due to mold...eww. Two thumbs up to our custodian who looked in the boxes, and threw them away for me. I don't do well with mold...I'll throw food away in a heartbeat with even the tiniest hint of mold.

Last Tuesday night was meet your teacher night at my school. I had 16 of the 20 kids show up. I'd like to think they all heard what a fantastic teacher I am, and had been so excited all summer to come meet me, but in reality it's probably because we were giving away ice cream.

The first day of school was so much easier than last year. It was nice to not have the nervous energy I did last year, and be able to come back with routines clearly established for these new kiddos. I have a great bunch of kids, and this year I can already tell that I will encounter totally different challenges than last year.

I do not have a class of 2nd graders yet, we're still working out our 1st grade energy. I don't remember the beginning of the year being this much work last year, although I am sure it was. It's just a lot of "please don't put your foot up there", and "wake up" and "put your head up" and "no, we're not going home yet, it's only 11:30, we've got 5 more hours to go sweetie."

Last year a lot of students would call me "teacher", which really kind of bothers me. However, I've come to realize that in Hispanic culture they don't say Senora or Senor _____, they say maestra or maestro (teacher). So far this year I've had lots of students call me teacher, but I think the best quote of the first week is "Teacher, I just don't know what I am supposed to be doing."

Don't we all feel that way sometimes?

1 comment:

Cheri said...

This takes me back to my first years of teaching. Fun times!

And yes, sometimes I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing. I'd better get it together cuz I'm way older than a 2nd grader!