back to school

Happy Monday and First Day back to School! It was my second first day of school as a teacher. I wish I could say today went off without a hitch, but there were a few glitches. I am very excited, however, about most of my classes; I seem to have a good mix of kids again this year.

I just got back from taking hell dog on a run. I wore him out (yay) so I can kind of relax tonight and not fuss over him. Currently he's nearly passed out in front of the AC and looks pretty darn comfortable. The horrible part of the run was that my feet were barking at each step after spending 80% of my day on my feet (in my white platform shoes; the one's hell dog chewed but I fixed). Normally, these shoes aren't terribly uncomfortable, but after standing for 7 hours, my feet have reason to cry a bit.

When I arrived to school and saw several old students, I got a new rush of excitement for the school year. I had a good night's sleep last night (thanks, in part, to a wonderful blessing from my hubby) and felt ready to conquer my first day. Advisory brought with it the same students of last year (minus two problem darlings, at no fault of my own). We had a good chat about summer, they commented on my new lighter hair (they all saw me through my weird hair phases last year...brown...darker brown...orange...hot pink...red...etc.). We discussed how fun it is being 9th graders (them of course). I tried to get input on what they wanted to do in advisory, but they were being silly so we didn't get too far.

First period is my journalism (school news paper) class. Most of these 9th graders are my 8th grade students from last year. It was actually not even like the first day, since they know me, I know them, and we had a good time. I did my best explaining the ins and outs of the class, gave them a disclosure and then we did a team-building activity. I think it will be a good class, if I can get some of chatters to quiet down long enough to explain stuff. Currently there are 23 students in that class so I have a chore ahead of me trying to figure out what they'll all do!

Second period is the media productions (yearbook) class. Again, most students here are former 8th graders of mine. I think more of them are serious and more responsible, so it'll be fun to see how they manage this little "business." They all got excited about taking pictures and being so involved in the yearbook making process.

Third and Fourth period are running together at the moment (as are sixth and seventh). I didn't focus so much on names today as just getting everything explained. I do remember though that the table setup I'm trying may try my very last patience. It makes is easy to talk while I'm talking. I did introduce "My Favorite 7 Letter Word," and after my RESPECT talk, some of my chatty problems ceased. Also, I am trying an Attention Bell this year, which is a call bell (one you'd tap at a business when you wanted help). We practiced listening for the bell. It was a hit!

As I did last year, I introduced myself to the kids by telling them about me...where I'm from, where I went to college, etc. They like that...even though sometimes I feel dumb doing it...and I think it helps them know that I'm pretty average, you know, for a teacher.

The best thing about my new schedule is having a prep (or consultation) period. I ate lunch right after 4th period, then had a whole other 45 minutes to get stuff done for later in the week. It was sweet. I didn't have that luxury last year and believe me, the break was nice!

By 4th period I was loosing my voice. It's kind of raspy now. I'm trying not to talk too much.

Tomorrow will be more of what I did today--class procedures, rules, disclosure, etc. I'm planning on wearing better, more comfortable shoes tomorrow. I'm off now to eat some dinner--alone, as Ben's at work--and watch a little tv before heading to bed EARLY.