First days and expectations

We all have our favorite TV shows: doctors and nurses scrambling around to save lives, witty investigators solving impossible crimes, "real" people falling in love... The list goes on.  So maybe you wouldn't think that teaching elementary school is very entertaining. But I'm here to prove you wrong. Put 25 8- and 9-year-olds in one room together with only one adult, and there is bound to be entertainment. I've decided I have too many good stories this year not to share them. 

One thing about teachers - we're good at communication. So I knew it sounded like this year could present some challenges, but even though this is only my third year teaching, I knew what to expect from a group of third graders on the first day of school: they would be quiet and slightly shy, obediently following all my instructions. They'd sit at their desks with folded hands, listening in rapt attention as I explained all that the year would hold. Surely they'd understand my expectations and rules without much direction from me. After all, this school thing isn't new to them anymore. They've had 3 years of experience being students - more experience than I've had being a teacher!  

What I should have learned on that first day of school (however, I'm still learning this lesson) is not to have preconceived notions about what any day of school will hold. My email to my sister after that first half day tells it all: 

You know it's going to be an interesting year when:

...during Chapel on the first day of school, within the first half hour of the day, you have to turn around multiple times to tell the student sitting directly behind you to be quiet and listen to the principal. You also have to remind 2 other boys to be quiet during this time. 

...one student during the first 5 minutes of class is putting his boxes of tissues on top of an already precariously high pile of boxes, only to have the whole class watch the pile slide and tumble while the boy giggles delightedly and the others join in. 

...after thoroughly discussing the importance of raising your hand, having the whole class sign the rules poster agreeing to this rule, among others, one boy has to flip a card on the behavior chart because already he is not following that rule. Not only is he calling out answers, but he's making noises as well. (Not to mention the sock that he had wrapped around his head, even after I told him to put it in his desk.)

...and then there's that student who can't seem to stay in his chair. You overlook his standing up some of the time, but when he starts wandering from his desk or sitting on top of his desk, you have to ask him to have a seat.

Despite all of that, I'm still excited for the year. It should be fun and very, very interesting!

Well maybe that last sentence was a bit of an understatement. But yes, it is interesting, as well as challenging, fun, tiring, and - despite the fact that there are no TV shows based on a teacher's life (yet) - entertaining.