Last year, on the first day of school, I didn't get home from work until 5:00.
Not because I was working on my spelling packets.
Not because I needed to plan for the next day.
But because I had my head in my hands and was bawling my eyes out. The kids seemed, to me, impossible. Too many needs in one room-physically, socially, and of course, academically. Not to mention, a few of them actually scared me quite a bit. Like, "When he gets hungry, I hope he doesn't beat me up" kind of scared. The job seemed too big for my little hands.
Somehow, I learned a little bit, then I learned a little bit more. And, by the end of the year, I knew who needed to learn how to "make friends" by not "pinching and biting", who needed to have some "red truck" time (literally, he got to hold a red truck for 10 minutes), and who needed to run 10 laps outside before every math lesson. And yes, I joined him on several occasions. (Don't worry, I beat him every time).
This year, I was expecting the same tramatic beginning. I came to school equipped with waterproof mascara and ibuprofine.
When I got the students off of the bus, the got their breakfast, and began the morning routine. Without me telling them.
When I began to teach the rules, two of the students were mouthing my words while I said them. (....maybe I went a little overboard on those last year:)
When it was time to do "end of the day jobs" and pack up for the bus, they put their chairs on tehir desks and mosied to the coathanger. Without my help.
The two kids that scared me last year because of their nonstop flailing arms and screaming noises sat quietly while I read "Froggy Goes To School" to them for 20 minutes. Then grunted/pointed for me to read it again.
I won't get my hopes up, here. Tomorrow will be full of suprises. But, today was a great first day of school.
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