Soon it will be Meet the Teacher night for many of us around the country. This is the night that we meet our new group of kids and their parents. Teachers dress for the occasion, many of us putting on lipstick for the first time since June. Do you get nervous? I still do.
This will be my 26th Meet the Teacher night. I get butterflies with the anticipation and excitement of meeting my new kids, moms, dads and even grandparents. I want them to like me, really like me. (cue Sally Field's oscar speech in 1985 for those of you old enough)
I want the moms and dads to know that their child is in good hands, that I will love them like my own. That I will do my best to teach them what they need to know academically and emotionally. Besides math and science, I will teach kindness, fairness, perseverance, community and respect. If their child makes a mistake, I will guide him through it without humiliation. I will teach them that fair doesn't always mean equal. I will tell them to work it out when they come to me at recess, upset because someone won't play with them. I will cheer them on and push them to be their very best. I won't give up on their child.
I hope all of this comes across as I fly around the room, shaking hands and excusing myself to greet another new face that enters the room. I hope they like me.
47 days. If you teach in Texas, that's how many days until our first day of school. I posted the number of days we had left a couple weeks ago. Bad idea. My own friends sent me hate texts. "Stop! I haven't even begun enjoying my summer yet!" a coworker texted. I guess I'm weird. I didn't mean to piss anyone off. I just get excited when I think of the new school year approaching.
I love when I see Target's display of school supplies! Colorful binders, folders, 100 packs of notebook paper, pencil bags and crayons! The big box. The 64 count! Now if you had that when I was a kid, you were rich. Santa brought me mine. I think there's a 96 count box now. I can't wrap my head around that. I would go crazy with that many new, perfectly-made crayons. Anyone else?
I love decorating my room, planning my bulletin boards, arranging the desks to make it look inviting. I don't want it to look too busy though. That's very distracting to some kids. Think of that when putting your room together. Your kiddos with ADD will be staring at the twirling thingys you have hanging from the ceiling instead of listening to you. Early in my career, my husband visited me at school. "Whoa. How do your kids learn in here?" he looked around at my plethora of decorations on the walls & ceiling. "What? They love it," I defended. Then I thought about it. It was pretty crazy. So I've really scaled down my classroom decor.
This will be my 26th First Day of School. I may be alone, but I can't freakin' wait!
