First Day!

Today is primary day in TN so I hope all of my TN followers have voted!

Wednesday was our first day of school!!  August 1 is early but we’ve switched to a balanced calendar so we start early and get out before Memorial Day!  We get a week off in October, 2 weeks for winter break, 2 weeks for spring and finish at the end of May.  The breaks are being used for intercession and each school had to create a plan for their intercession.  We are using ours for enrichment and remediation.  Of course, the district isn’t funding the intercessions, so we’ll see how it goes.

And now the first day of school.  This was my 7th first day of school and I still get so nervous.  I could almost start to hyperventilate when the 745 bell rings and I see the first ones coming down the hall!  I am so scared I am going to mess them up and scar them for life, not be able to control the class, or not be an effective teacher.   Does anyone else get scared on the first day?

Overall, the day went great.  If the day was an indication of the year, I am excited.  I had two criers and no pukers!!!  That’s a huge improvement from last year when I had 3 pukers.  Shew…

The first day is a zoo.  Kids coming in.  Parents with questions and forms to fill out.  Pictures being taken.  Taking kids to their seats.  Tears.  Hugs.  Chaos.  

I had one crier that I had to take from her mom so mom could jsut leave.  The little girl just stood in the room.  Eveytime I asked her to join she said “NO!” so I just left her alone.  When it was time to line up for brunch, she lined up and after that she was awesome!  At dismissal she ran and gave me a big hug!  And her mom told the principal she didn’t want her to have a male kindergarten teacher because she had never been around a male.  See momma, she likes me and she did fine!

My other crier is a whole different challenge.  She is an ELL student who speaks ZERO English.  She cried for a while and then ran.  And she ran twice.  The poor thing was terrified, as I would be in a strange place where I had no idea what this crazy dancing and singing man was saying.  I am not sure how she will do tomorrow on day two.  Suggestions??

We colored, we sang, we practiced our procedures and our rules.  We wrote our names.  They did very well with everything.  They did great with morning meeting and the greeting, walking in the hallway was good (the straight line concept eluded us because we want to look at everything!), and we even did a good job at brunch.  I have some smart kids with some amazing potential.  I have a feeling they will keep me on my toes this year, in a very good way!  As you can see from the picture, we have our work cut out for us.  But guess what, WE CAN DO IT!!  These kids are going to be the BEST kids in the school!  

I always have the kids write their name on the first day.  It immediately goes in the hallway as our first piece of “Mon-Star” work!  We do another chart just like this in December and May and display them in the hall so everyone can see just how far we have come.  

What are your ideas and activities and lessons for the first full week of school?  Also, am thinking of hosting my first linky party…would you be interested in a linky party about the funniest thing a student ever said to you?!  

And…to celebrate my first day back, I bought this awesome clip art.  I love the 80’s so of course I want the 80’s clipart.  And when I saw the Saint Bernards I immediately thought of my precious baby, Abercrombie.  He was the first dog I ever had on my own.  He was a giant spoiled lap dog.  He went to doggie heaven a year ago and I miss his slobbery face everyday.  

Here is your challenge:  what kind of products or activities would you like to see me create with this awesome clip art??!?!?!

Finally, as we start our school year, it’s hard to feel appreciated and respected.  I often question if I have an impact.  Very rarely do we ever get to hear from students about how we impacted them.  Last night, I was HONORED to get this text from a student I taught 7 years ago when she was a fifth grader.