If you count high school and college pre-service teaching programs of which I was apart, this is my 12th year to be in a classroom at least one day a week.
My first group of kid that were all 'mine' are now big juniors in high school and driving. I'm proud of them!
As of today, I've taught over 1,000 kids. I have yet to decide if that's an achievement or a resounding declaration that 6th grade is still too young to switch teachers so many times in one day (my dream job would be to teach one group of kids social studies and languages arts in the morning and then repeat with a new group of kids in the afternoon).
Today I had 163 kids in my room spread out through 6th academic periods and Advisory.
Today alone I had kids born in eight different countries (Jordan, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, India, Mexico, Colombia, and obviously America), and I bet there are some I haven't uncovered yet.
I have taught kids from every inhabited continent except Australia. I love this stat!
Best first day of school happened today: "But, instead of making us raise our hands and wait on you, why don't you just grow lots of extra ears to hear us all talking at once?" It was said so innocently. Another child piped in with, "You can hide them all behind your hair!" Yep, it's gonna be that kind of year. :)
Today was probably the best first day to date. There was nothing to complain about except that my feet are swollen something awful. If that's the worst, who cares?! I began praying over this year in June, and yet I anticipated this day so negatively. Shame on me. I invited the Holy Spirit into my room before I ever set a toe in there, and He met me there in mighty ways today. Oh, it wasn't perfect, but it was fun and glorious, and I received so many deeply needed hugs from old and new students alike. Prayers are answered; never doubt! Then, I received so many texts, calls, and emails from friends and family saying they had been (and would continue!) to be praying for my classroom and me. What a blessing! Every teacher needs that kind of lovin' on the first day of school (ok, every day, but especially the first day!). Tina had a great first day of 2nd grade; I was thrilled to hear her excited little voice tell me about all that happened today. Praise You, Jesus!
On the other hand, there is a tropical storm in the Gulf. It makes me want to strike up the theme from Empire Strikes Back. It's the first week of school. Figures. See, Ike closed us down for two weeks in September of '08, and even when we returned, my classroom still looked like a hurricane zone until April of '09. We functioned on bare bones for most of the school year. About a fourth of my students lost everything, literally everything, to that storm. We began school again, after our clean up hiatus, and had to repeat everything we'd learned and take three steps back all at once. Storms in the Gulf the first week of school conjure up all kinds of memories for Houston. It looks like NOLA-ish area is going to get the brunt of this storm, but keep those poor teachers in your prayers! It's hard to start and then restart so quickly. Kids are resilient, but hurricanes make even the toughest kid break. It didn't help that the hurricane hunter plane flew over us at the park tonight. That thing sends chills down my spine each time I see it leave Ellington. Guess what though...God is bigger than the Boogey Man AND hurricanes! :)
I am so excited for this year!
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