You "speak" sign language?

Now I am absolutely positive that there are no classes in your educational career that will ever fully prepare you for the first day of the school year. Yes, there are some strategies and information that are helpful for the first 7 hours of the school year, but all in all it's more or less resorting to survival mode. This isn't just being taken from a new teacher perspective, but I've come to the conclusion that more seasoned teachers think this also.

Everyone has their first day smiles on but really each and every one of us are about to vomit with nerves and hopes that the day will go without a hitch, and most of all at the end of the day all the kids, especially the kindergartners, will get on the right bus. I walked into my classroom this morning with 3 cups of coffee already in my system and had already been awake 4 hours. I would like to say that everything ran without a hitch, but there were a few glitches, but all in all I'd say on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) it was about a 7.5-8ish day.

3rd graders are so inquisitive and eager to understand things or share their thoughts on things. For example, "Ms. Lee I have slim in my shoes", or "you speak sign language" or "why can't I run up the slide?". The questions kept coming throughout the day and I realized that this was something that I should be expecting for the remaining of my career.

I'm so thankful that I have a wonderful mentor who not only has helped me with getting acquainted with the procedures and tidbits of the school but also for just the friendship that comes along with it. During the worst part of the day today, I walked into my classroom to find a note of encouragement and a basket full of goodies that will help me throughout the first few weeks and the year (sticky notes, sharpies, award badges, trail mix, chocolate, and yes, a screwdriver because "you never know when you'll have to repair something")

Not only am I blessed to have my mentor, but equally blessed to have a great Co-teaching partner that I can bounce ideas off of and we have a similar teaching style. She's amazing and I'm so thankful for her.

So here's to a great first day of my professional career, here's to getting all my students to their right places in the afternoon, and as always here's to life!

Simply N :)