Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Sore Feet, Happy Heart: Reflections on the First Day of Teaching

As I sat down in a chair to reflect on my day, two thoughts crossed my mind:

1. Holy smokes, I am actually sitting down today?!?!
2. Wait, did that just happen??

The good news is, I survived my very first day as a teacher! I made it through without tears, without running away, and without scaring any children. (Much to the sadness of my fellow colleagues, I think. They would have LOVED some good teacher entertainment today.)

Sadly, the list of what I did do is much longer. I did accidentally mess up attendance (three times),  I did accidentally keep three students in my classroom who belonged in English (who needs it anyways??), I did forget to bring a lunch, and I did have to get technology assistance (that was bound to happen sooner or later...). Luckily, the English teacher was forgiving, nobody seemed to care about attendance, and our tech guy is a MIRACLE worker when it comes to fixing projectors. 

Looking back, it is a little sad. Feels kind of like Christmas. You spend weeks setting up your classroom, get excited about how it looks, spend countless nights thinking about how things will work, what you will say, what your students will think. And then it comes! And it is great, but lets be honest, that first day is the most hectic, crazy, confusing, fun, happy, and bizarre day of your teaching career. And then, you are sitting down at your desk, looking out over an empty classroom, probably still hearing voices and giggles (because, lets face it, you will be hearing those for the next 20 years... even during the summer!), and you ask yourself two questions: Where did the time go? and Where are these voices coming from?!

And, at first you are a little sad it is over. That day you worked for has come and gone. You probably feel a little disappointed, a little dazed. But as you start to pack up, pick up the mess your middle schoolers left (they WON'T leave that tomorrow, trust me), and kick off your shoes (because your feet at this point probably feel like they are going to snap), you realize that the end of your first day is really not the end of anything, but rather, a beginning. And come what may, you are ready to step into the next day and see what challenges lie ahead.... 

Well, after you eat some food, go to therapy, get a HoverRound for your feet, and get a lot of sleep that is... :) 

2 comments:

  1. This is so well written! Having a HoverRound is such a great idea because if the kids are bad, then you can just ram into their desk and yell, "Comin' through." This method is very popular among our elderly population.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha! That would be hilarious! I think the students would find that hilarious though... :) I have some really great kids! A few onery ones here and there, but for the most part, we get along really well and are having a good time getting to know one another (no HoverRound required!).

      Delete