First Day

Today, school started. I arrived to work at the unholy hour of 7:30am and remembered why I was always tired at school. The first day, at least, I had enough adrenaline from nerves to keep me awake the entire day. I might give my self a headache and a stomachache, but I would not fall asleep!

I ended up spending most of today in one of three places: the 8th grade room, observing; the office, making copies; and the basement, signing students up for electives. I did take a brief excursion to the kindergarten room to return some students to their class when a slight scuffle broke out among them. The child had some violent tendencies and some violent words, and the worst of it is that his sort of behavior doesn't come from a vacuum. For a kindergartner to say and do what this child said and did, he must have learned it somewhere. It breaks my heart.

Other than that, I am still processing today. I came to know again that middle school students are old enough to think, but young enough for my age to lend some semblance of authority. Boys are show-offs, girls have some 'tude. I have no idea how this year will go, but I at least know what my students look like.

Also, I realized again how much I love reading, writing, grammar, and all the fun language arts bits and pieces. I'm excited for these students to learn English! Whether they want to or not.