I love teaching. I sincerely do. I love having my own class and planning what we are going to do, and seeing how the students react, and what their questions are.
It's the "other" stuff that is wearing. Like schedules that don't really work and are changed daily. (No really, the first week, it was DAILY changes.) And procedures not fully communicated to those involved. Or procedures changed at the last moment. Or trying to figure out where supplies are locked up, and how to gain access. And trying to figure out how to dress for AZ weather when you've brought school-prohibited clothing, like sleeveless tops.
In the end, it's all good. I tell myself and I tell my kids that every day is an adventure when we face a new deviation from the anticipated pathway. I fear my smile is wearing thin, but I will push on. And things are getting better, as days pass and everyone settles into their own routines.
My first week was busy. Turns out the classroom I put all my stuff in was the wrong one, so my first day (when we were asked to wear professional clothing) I spent moving all my boxes into the other room. It was a meager 80 degrees or so. Then I got to meet all the other teachers. In full sweat. I am sure I made an impression. Oh well. The other classroom was reserved for my partner teacher who, it turns out, was expecting to be in first grade, not fifth. It took her about a week to readjust her mind to upper elementary needs. I really like her. She has proven to be a great teammate.
So I arranged my classroom. Square room, 2 doors in odd places, a one-way window we look into the cafeteria through, 2 white erase boards (one that is ready to fall out from the wall, the other 3/4 up the wall, so I can reach the lower third), no closet/storage, an odd selection of textbooks, and 21 student desks. Not perhaps the "dream" classroom, but all mine. I set up the desks, set up the student center and class library (thank you, IKEA!). I organized the textbooks into "sets" - ones I have enough to make a class set, and those I do not. I put up a Reading board, a Space board (but we decided to study Forces and Motion first), a bunch of Language Arts posters students typically ignore, and a map of the United States. And I pondered what to do with the one-way window. (I still am, actually, but have placed a reading poster in the center for the time being). I printed out labels at home, and re-printed labels as students were added to my roster.
I met parents and students on the Friday Open House before school, hoping I wasn't looking as nervous as I felt. I was warmly welcomed by parents and shyly approached by students sizing me up. I planned for the following week.
My first week seemed like it was spent doing a lot of talking. Routine this, procedure that, always, never, and so on. I memorized the kids' names by the end of the first day. Got used to them calling me "miss" (not Middleton or M, just miss). Listened to their gripes as the changes mounted, encouraged flexibility, and smiled a lot. When the gigantic 2 inch long cockroach scrambled across my floor, a student offered to kill it, and the rest of the class assured me it "wasn't all that big". By the end of the week, the kids were more comfortable with me. I could tell because they were starting to act up, so I put a stop to that by making them write about respect. That helped.
I spent the weekend reviewing assessment data, personal journals (one of them thinks I am a spy - what, like I have time for that too?), and planning for my second week. I learned the basics of how to run the assorted computer softwares, and discovered all my work was being "converted" when I brought it to work on a thumb drive. So then I spent evenings turning everything into a .pdf.
The work never ends. The changes to my roster are easing up, although I know one student who isn't going to show up, so his desk has been pushed to the side. I have lessons to plan, write, and submit to what I refer to as "Taskmaster", an online site the school uses. Grades are already due and I am recording those in my gradebook, to transfer later in the week onto the computer. I have set up folders for Science and Reading Conferences, collected items for science experiments, and ensured that every student has all the supplies he/she could possibly need. I still have reading assessments to review and finish calculating, math worksheets to check over, and I am sure there is something else, but I can't recall what it is right now.
And did I mention I love this? All of it. Yes, my eyes hurt from trying to read all the handwriting. My back hurts from sitting in a chair correcting papers and recording grades for longer than I care to admit. I am terrified of turning on the light in my classroom and seeing something scurry across the floor. I am still too warm every day.
But I'll tell you what: it's worth it. Every day is worth it. I love these kids already. And you know what? I think they kinda like me, too.
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