1st week is in the books

I've had the best educational experience, and the best student teaching experience, but nothing can truly prepare you for a real teaching position in a school. Everything I've learned in bits and pieces finally came together all at once this week. The Sunday before school I woke up at 7:30am to work on IEPs only to find out I couldn't log onto the system. I frantically called my mentor at 7:56am to ask her what to do. Thank goodness she was calmer than me and got me access into the system. Then came lesson plans and modifying others' lesson plans (that happened 7:15am on Monday morning-- 45 minutes before they were due). Then came the students at 7:35 into our first class, English 3 (it didn't seem real up until this point). We went over the syllabus and some expectations and the morning went as planned. Before I knew it, I had my prep period during 4th period. I prepped the room for my spanish students  by turning on the Smart Board, loading my presentation on Prezi, getting the online attendance checker loaded, getting the papers organized, and finally, standing by the door to meet my new students. They eagerly took their desk and listened to my presentation. Repeat for 6th period, lunch 7th, and another English class 8th period. Before I knew it, the first day was finished. Wednesday came and I was dead tired in the morning. I ordered a Venti tea at Starbucks instead of a Grande. (By the way... no one tells teachers how to strike a balance between drinking too much, which causes bathroom breaks, and drinking too little, which leads to dehydration.) I trucked on till Friday and had a great weekend.

Some things I learned the first week:

The best microwave that cooks the fastest

The best water fountain 

The best time to make copies (4pm after school)

My room feels wonderful with the air on

I can walk 4 miles during the day (does that count as real exercise?)

Students will respect you if you respect them too

Sometimes plans can change and you need to look like you know what you're doing when you don't

I can't access the school shared directory from home

Students don't like detentions for being late

Week two is upon me and I planned as much as I could at home without having access to the school shared directory. Hopefully my spanish students will enjoy my presentations and activities I have planned for them. 

My personal goals for the week:

Figure out how to make dinner while being dead tired at 5

Run at least 2 times after school

Understand that I need time to myself

Look into joining a local gym

Here. We. Go.

Tomorrow, September 9th, is the first day of school.

The classroom is clean, the bulletin boards await creative student work,  and new binders await my students. Are they as nervous as I am? Will I make a great first impression? Will I remember everything on my lesson plans without saying, uhhhhh...uhhhhh... too much?

I hope so.

Being that I am a runner, I say some last words of encouragement before I start a long, hard race, and they are: Here we go.

Teaching is very similar to running a race: you have to plan out your training runs well in advance (unit plans), you have to plan for emergencies (school sicknesses), you have to be in top physical shape (know the material), and you have to be able to run the entire race without stopping to use the bathroom  (this is the same for teaching!). After the race, you need to reflect on what worked, what didn't, and how I can improve for the next time I start another race.

As it's now an appropriate "teacher bedtime," I say these last words to kick off the race of the year: Here. We. Go.

I need more hours in the day

As much as I have to do, I tried to schedule some down time to spend with my girls before their summer was over. I severely underestimated how much time I would need to check 40 IEPs and write my first lessons for the week. The IEP program didn't recognize me as a user and when I did gain access, the program wasn't Mac friendly. I went into a completely epic melt down and had to have my husband look at the computer problem for me. As the melt down subsided, I felt awful as I dropped them off to an End of the Year party at the swim club while I went back home to work more. 12 hours later, microwaved pizza, and no more white printing paper, I called it a day. It was now time to help my youngest daughter get ready for her first day of school too. Being that I am so stressed out from wanting everything perfect and in place, I realized this would be the first year that I couldn't see my daughter onto the school bus. Cue melt down #2. Later, my daughter assured me that my husband will take her annual picture in front of the door before the bus comes. whew!!!

I understand that I have a lot on my plate right now because I don't have routines and priorities in place (getting Spanish taco stickers seemed to be high on the priority list this weekend). I also understand that it will get better and everyone, including seasoned teachers are probably having a busy weekend. Thankfully, I had a friend take some time out to answer some of my questions, and my mentor called me back after I phoned her at 7:56a on a Sunday morning. I do have a great support system!!

Overall, I need to find a way to balance school work, kids and my own well being. They need me as much as my students will. Plus, I realized on Sunday night that I survived on Diet Coke all weekend! Must. not. do. that. again.

I'm off to tuck in the kiddos into bed, and maybe fill a water bottle for school.