The First Day of School has come and gone. A day that I have anticipated since April. In my nearly 14 years in education, I have only worked the First Day once. Primarily due to being a Substitute when no sub works but also because every other job I had started after First Day. Having more than a week to set up my classroom, plan lessons, find supplies, negotiate the various computer systems that are the norm for Southwest Regional School District was an unknown luxury.
Because of the age of my class, the 6th grade is in a strange position; not quite middle schoolers, yet no longer elementary. We are on the cusp, and this year my school decided to take steps to ease us into a more middle school mindset. I have my guys (non-gender specific) all day except the period after lunch when they go to the Secondary wing for Science like the big kids. The way my students' eyes lit up when they heard this was delightful. During this time, I teach 7th grade Health, a subject for some reason all the other teachers balked at. Personally, I love it but more on that in another post.
I have 12 students total. An even dozen. Which leans toward easy ways to break up into groups, is enough to have discussion once the kids realize it's okay to talk (a cultural thing), yet small enough that I really can see what everyone is up to all the time. Also, three of my students are taken out for roughly half the day to go work in the SpEd room. Basically, I have one third of the number I would have had in Portland. And one boy never showed up at all. According to the rest, he never comes to school so that should make it interesting to create a relationship with him.
Obviously, this is also cause for concern. These kids have been with each other since birth and things that might not have been a big deal when they were in the Primary wing might suddenly take on much greater significance now that hormones are added. Hard to say but I hope to keep the drama to a minimum. When she saw her placement next to a particular boy, Jasilyn* asked why she had to sit next to the "mean boy." I told her it was so she could teach him to be a "nice" boy. How her expression changed then from concerned and worried to a girl with purpose! I expect that boy to be whipped into shape in no time. By the way, he isn't "mean" so much as "antsy." Ironically, she left school early to go berrying with her aunt/grandmother/mother I'm not sure which.
Because it was the First Day, my lesson plans focused mainly on procedures, how we do things in MY room, what to expect and what I expected. So when 2:00 rolled around and I still had 90 minutes and nothing left to say, I did what any good teacher does: took them to the gym to run around for 30 minutes. At the time, I had an aide, Frieda, working with me (to handle the three challenging kids?) who quickly organized a basketball game. Basketball is huge here and everyone played with vigor, running out the boredom of a day spent mostly sitting listening to me drone on and on about how only water was allowed in the classroom, not sports drinks.
In the course of the day, I was visited by the Assistant Principal, the SpEd teacher a few times, and the new school counselor. It was clear that they were all doing the New Teacher Check In, making sure my room, or hair, hadn't caught fire. It was also clear that since they all left soon after arriving, that, for today at least, I had things under control. Can't ask for much more than that.
*names have been changed to protect the innocent and the guilty
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