The First Day

I feel like I have just been pulled out of a lint catch. I feel like that unrecognizeable synthetic something that has washed up on the beach after a storm. I feel completely pummeled.

And there are 179 days to go.

Have previous first days been so exhausting? Am I getting old? Was it exceptionally hot? Is my class particularly difficult? Or is the first day of school kind of like child birth? We forget how hard it is so we will actually try again.

When I analyze the day, it went smoothly. I was prepared, intentional, and explicit. We did a variety of accessible activities that I used to assess their basic skills. We are in our honeymoon period, so I expected the toughest kids to be on their best behavior. As it turns out I have more than one "Jeremy." There are at least two, with three others who may just be following his lead (or may be genuinely troublesome themselves). On the first day this manifested as CHATTY, but I cringe to imagine what behaviors I will see as we get in to academic work.

I have to train them quickly, or it could be a very long September. I feel an unhealthy stream of self-doubt trickling in. Will I really be able to get children who insist on talking whenever thoughts pops into their heads to NOT talk when they have a thought? Will I be able to lead children who resist learning to active participation?

Let me examine this question after dinner, a beer, and at least 8 hours of merciful sleep.