First Day of School

Next month marks 20 years since I started my first year of teaching.  I’d been in many classrooms, observing for college classes and substituting, but nothing really prepares you for the first day of your first year.  No matter how organized you are, things may not go exactly the way you planned. 

Do you remember the first day of your first year?  I do.  Actually, there’s just one thing I remember about that first day.  I was in my classroom, making sure everything was set.  I was nervous.  After all, I was teaching 6^th grade!  I loved 6^th grade, though, and had completed several months in a 6^th grade classroom as a long term substitute the year before.  But this was different.  This was the first day of school, for me and them.  I no longer could rely on whatever the teacher had put in place before I’d gotten there.  Although nervous, I was pretty confident I knew what I was doing, and we’d all have a good day.  I looked at the clock.  I only had about five minutes.  Then…..there was a knock on my door.  I was new to the school and didn’t know any of the families.  Was it a parent and student, also nervous, just wanting to ease the nerves before getting in line?  Was it a colleague wishing me luck?  Well, it was a parent.  She was by herself.  She introduced herself, told me her child’s name, the proceeded to show me a thick folder with all the information I needed to learn about her child.  I’m sure she was anxious.  Her child was placed in a new teacher’s class, and she had no idea who I was.  However, I really had no time to discuss anything with her.  I tried to ease her mind, and told her we’d have a great day and I looked forward to discussing any concerns she had in the coming days.  In my opinion, her child did end up having a great first day and a fantastic year.  Hopefully she felt the same. 

Teachers have to think and act on their feet. No college class ever prepared me for that moment.