First Days of School
I admit it, I don’t sleep very well the first day of
school. I am lucky to sleep 5 hours
because I am rethinking everything I need to do, things I need to say, how I
will come across to the students, and other junk like that. Except for the year I woke up with my eyes
almost swollen shut because of poison ivy and the day Nash had no electricity, my
first days have all been pretty good.
Today started off with my taxi driver arriving late. Well, not really late, but later than he has
been coming. Most mornings I am setting
three alarms, 5:00, 6:00, and 6:45. The
first is to get me started and sometimes I hit the snooze a time or two. Usually I am on my iPad reading my bible, or
checking social media. I also admit to
being addicted to social media. The
second alarm is to warn me it is time to take a shower and prepare a bite to
eat. The third one is to tell me it is
time to go. Usually my taxi driver
arrives about the same time as the 6:45 alarm.
Today he arrived at 7:00. So that
caused a little twinge of panic.
Soon though, I was at school being greeted by the cats and
discovering that the night cleaning crew had not cleaned the dusty desks. I asked the day cleaning lady to clean the
desks. She did, but complained that the
night crew was getting lazy. I made sure
everything was ready for my classes and then looked over my first day
spiel. And nervously I awaited my
students.
Before my first class started I discovered that my class
list for British Literature had changed since I left school the day
before. Several names were gone from my
list and a few added. For British
Literature I had only 6 students, one of whom is in the States for another
week, and later in the day, another boy transferred to that class. I like the class, though today they were
kinda quiet. I asked a few questions and
not one said “I don’t know.” They all
gave the best answer they could think of for the first day of school. They seem to be an intelligent group, so I will have to be on my toes to give them a quality education.
My second class kinda exploded into the room. It is my biggest class with 17 10th
graders and 2/3rds boys. Several of the
boys aren’t shy at all and I had to be forceful to get them to not talk so
much. I discovered right away that it
will take a little more work with them and they won’t get as much accomplished
as the other two classes. I did not
finish what I planned for that class.
But this I know about this group, because I have had lots of kids like
them in the past, once I win their hearts I will also have their minds. I am looking forward to many good days with
them.
The third class started off a bit confused. My schedule showed there was a 10-minute
break before the class, so I let them go buy a snack. While half the class was gone, one student
showed me his schedule and I realized theirs was different from mine. I lost a few minutes at the beginning of
class, but they cooperated well and we did everything that was required. I am really going to like this class. They participated well and seemed interested in
everything I had to say. If they stay
like this, and I was told that is their personality, I expect it will be a good
year.
That class starting earlier meant it ended earlier. This year I am only part time, so my school day ends at 10:28! I can’t imagine that now, even though I was home a few minutes after 11:00 today, had lunch by 12:00, and enjoyed a nap till 1:30. Once the routine is settled, I will have lots of time to write and to explore Santa Cruz.
Day 2 was even better.
The students seemed relaxed, but the talkative ones were less so. I did a getting to know you essay. That meant that most of the period they were
writing. I have just started reading them,
but am discovering I have an impressive group of students.
The light is not good in my classroom, but you can get an
idea of a few of my students. All of
these pictures are from day 2, when most were writing essays for me.
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