First Week -- Complete!

Well, we survived the first "week" of school.  Monday and Tuesday were still teacher work days -- and they were a welcome thing for many of us.  So our first day with students was Wednesday.  This year, our school converted from a 7 period day to a 4 period A/B day.  For those of you who may be unfamiliar with that kind of schedule, that means that we have 4 class periods for about 80-some minutes each, and we alternate days -- A and B.  On A days, you have one set of classes; on B days, you have another.  I'm teaching four sections of English 9, one section of Honors English 9, one section of English 10 GT, and one section of our newest class -- Freshman Seminar.  My friends Emily and Becky are also teaching English 9, and Emily is teaching a section of Freshman Seminar as well, so we're putting our heads together frequently to come up with lesson ideas and work on getting materials prepped for our classes.  Of course, that's a little a tricky to master because we have no common planning time.  But Emily and Becky are off one period together, and Becky and I are off one period together, so we take care of some planning that way.  Or we chat over Facebook in the evenings.

Even though class periods are longer, I'm still feeling like they fly by.  On our first day, we did team-building/ice-breaker activities with the kids.  We had them compete as groups to see which group could build the tallest free-standing tower with materials provided (paper plates, cups, bowls, straws, pipe-cleaners, and tape); they had to work together to move styrofoam cups into different formations, using only a rubber-band with 5 strings tied to it; and we did a yarn web, with students stating a goal they had for this year, then cutting a piece of string as a visual reminder of that goal.  In some classes, we had kids work to "save Sammy" -- a gummy worm whose boat capsized, trapping his life vest underneath.  He managed to sit on top of the capsized boat, but his oar floated a way a bit.  The kids had to rescue Sammy, flip his boat over, get him inside, put his life vest on him, and get his oar back into the boat.  Using only 2 paperclips.  And oh yeah -- Sammy can't swim, so he'd die if he touched the water.  And you couldn't stab Sammy, or his life vest, with the paperclips (because you'd kill him, and deflate his life vest).  The kids seemed to get into it, and understood that we need to work together as a team in order to create a positive learning culture.

My class sizes vary.  In some classes, I have close to 30 students.  In other classes, I have about 15.  So far they all seem to be pretty decent groups.  I'm going to have to work hard to curb some of the excess chatting in some sections.  But the kids have been pleasant and cooperative.

I'm wiped out though.  You forget how much you have to be "on" when you're in the classroom.  This long weekend is a nice way to ease back into things, though I can tell I'm sleep-deprived -- one of my eyes is twitching.

Jacob has been going through bouts of separation anxiety.  He cries when he gets to school, though his teacher assure me that he doesn't cry all day, and that he really is having a good time.  Erik had to travel for work for a days this last week, so his dad came down to watch Jacob (school drop-off and my arrival at school just don't work out so well).  Jacob had a melt-down Thursday morning when I left, but he eventually got over it enough to have a good day playing with his Pop-Pops.  Every night as we talk about his day before he goes to sleep, he tells me, "I cried a little today, Mommies."  When I ask why he was sad, he always says, "I just wanted my mommies."  It broke my heart the other morning to hear him calling out "Mommy!  Come upstairs and see me!  Come see me, please!" as I walked out the door to work.  So we're slowly adjusting there, but it's rough going right now.

I started to take pictures of my classroom so that I could give you a "classroom tour," but my camera's batteries died, so you'll have to wait a little bit longer for that.

We have a lot of change happening at school.  It's good change.  But there's also a lot of paper-work involved with things this year.  I feel good about it all, but I also feel overwhelmed at the same time.  I'm scared I'll fall behind.  And having a small child doesn't make it much easier to balance it all.  So cross your fingers, and keep checking back.