Day One: Check

I survived day 1.

And it actually went pretty well. There were some pitchy spots, but nothing went wrong and by the third class I had my rhythm down and was much more comfortable and had a lot more fun. The kids did too, the first day is always a combination of fear and boredom for a lot of students - especially Freshmen. And I have A LOT of Freshman.

I haven't decided if this means our Principal likes me or hates me ;)

Moving around wasn't fun, but it worked as well as it could have. I have a few things to add to my rolling cart to make things a bit easier and it helps that the teachers I share classrooms with are all great to work with. We all teach 9th grade English at some point in our days, so we're working on closely pacing our classrooms and using similar materials so that we can maximize our time and energy (among other things). Our school is really big on PLCs (professional learning communities) and I am embracing the collaboration. It's great to have common pacing and curriculum guides so that we're a more cohesive department and all of our students needs are met. I was lucky enough to have worked at a PLC based school for my student teaching as well. In fact, my mentor teachers at ML are so super collaborative that they've offered to share materials with me even though I'm not on their site. They are teh awesome.

So yes, day one is complete.

Day two and day three are going to be pretty standard across the board and (unfortunately) not very exciting. Procedures need to be explained and mandatory testing needs to be done so we can get it out of the way and move on to the fun stuff. Next week should be much more exciting for the students - and for myself - as I get to delve into the short stories and start teaching lessons with GRR & CM (Gradual Release of Responsibility and Constructing Meaning). I'll get fully trained in both this year, but I've gotten the teaser training and some plans. It's pretty great stuff - google it if you want to know more.

I'll try and post more about each specific class later... but I have some organizational stuff to do and I'd love to get to bed before 10. Even though this is a short school week, it's a busy one!

Oh, and the kids start daycare on Friday - next week we're full time, but our first day is Friday. We were lucky enough to find a home daycare run by someone I really, really like. I got a great vibe from her and I think the kids will do well. Her set-up isn't ideal (apartment complex) but Bryan, the kids, and I all liked her, she's bilingual (which I LOVE), and the kids will interact with children their own age and a bit older. It's not set up like a preschool, but that will come eventually. Poe will actually be in preschool next year so that will be another fun hunt.

I do want to write a post on weaning since I'm thinking about starting that process. I have some seriously conflicting feelings that all seem to depend on which way the wind is blowing. Seriously. I love breastfeeding, but this weaning business sucks.