First Day of School

If you're friends with me on FB, you'll see that I posted that my first day went well. And for the most part, it did on the surface. My classes aren't too bad. I think the kids will be ok except for one little group of chatty girls who need to move seats and a grumpy boy I'll have to win over. All in all, writing abilities are better than what I've had in the past, and the kids all seem pretty sweet. A few of them even grinned at my jokes (I'm pretty mean on the first day, so I guess no one would dare laugh).

I'm structuring my lessons totally differently than I have in the past, so the amount of work is overwhelming right now. STRESSFUL. I don't know how I'm going to balance it all-- work, home life, grad school... Tonight I worked on tomorrow's lesson until I realized I'd been spacing out for at least 5 minutes so I decided to call it a night. The reason for the structure change is that since I left the classroom 2 years ago, my perspective has changed, expectations have changed, and the reliance on data to make decisions has become even more intense. I don't think I was too crappy of a teacher before, but I do think that being a curriculum coach for 2 years has definitely allowed me to grow professionally.

I get along with everyone on my team, but we're definitely lacking the camaraderie that I'm used to in a team. I call our end of the hallway upstairs "The Tomb" because the lights aren't turned on in the hall until right before the students come in (saving electricity, of course!), and no one talks to one another... Dark and quiet... Sigh. I hope it gets better because today was hard in that regard.

The first few weeks back are hard. I'm sure things will get better once I get into a routine again, stop missing my babies so much during the day, and feel like I can get a grip on my lesson planning.

Oh, did I mention I had a bloody nose right before homeroom while doing hall duty? AND, I have a huge blister on my right heel from those stupid shoes I wore today? Yep, I'm super cool. I know you all wish you had me for 8th grade language arts.