First Day of School / Things I Forgot About Being a Teacher

Today was the first day of school. The first day goes great if your only plan is to not have a plan... and just go with it. Seriously. There's so much stuff to cover (rules, expectations, procedures, consequences, lining up the the hall, how to ask for help, how to sit up straight in a chair, how to walk down the hall QUIETLY and how to keep your hands off your neighbor ---- the list has only begun!) before I even start "teaching" anything academic. Good thing we have 4 days to get it all down so the rest of the year goes smoothly.

There's 22 little guys & gals in my class and they all showed up today! They've got a TON of energy & they're super inquisitive so it's going to be a fun year.

Plus I also remembered a few things about being a teacher that I had forgotten last year as a parapro.

1. You can't go to the bathroom when you gotta go. Yep. This is the first thing on my list because I experienced it several times today! Recess and specials time are my friend because I get a long enough break to make a bathroom stop.

2. Kids like to tell stories --even if it's not remotely relevant to what we are talking about at the moment.

3. Six year olds DO NOT sit still. I forgot how much those buggers wiggle! Give me a few weeks and I'll get used to all the movement again. :)

4. Seating charts are my friend. It makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE in each child's learning when each child is seated in a place that is best suited to their personality traits and behaviors.

5. Tough love. This one is probably the hardest but most rewarding because it's all about holding kids accountable for their words & actions. There's consequences for everything, positive ones and negative ones. They don't always like it when they make a poor choice and I crack down with the negative consequence, but that's how discipline works. Making a rule and following through on the consequences when it is broken. No amount of whining, complaining, or crocodile tears are going to stop me from following through on the consequence. The kids benefit from the consistency and the realization that they can't manipulate me into giving in to their protests. :) And that's life: you make a bad choice, you reap a bad consequence; you make a good choice, you reap a good consequence. Hopefully I'll be doling out more positive consequences as the students learn to make good choice in their actions.

Welp. That's enough. I'm tired. My feet hurt. And I guess that leads me to #6 on my list:

6. Teachers NEVER sit down. At least lower elementary teachers anyways. We stand ALL DAY. That being said, reminder to self: wear more comfortable shoes tomorrow. :)

Love,
Mrs. Cook, 1st Grade Teacher