Lessons from week 1

One week down.

This week defied many of my expectations and fears by being an absolutely wonderful week. Granted, I am very grateful for this three-day weekend, but who isn't? Here are a few things I've learned:

-Entertaining and engaging lessons are essential in convincing my more reluctant learners to participate.
-Competition is a valuable tool for classroom-management.
-Paper cuts are near daily occurrences.
-Cheap heals result in throbbing feet at the end of the day.
-Parents will forgive almost anything if they like you.
-What cannot be completed in an hour of classroom time can easily be done and turned-in during ten minutes of P.E.
-Nothing -- not even parent-conferences or phone calls to Spanish-only homes -- is as scary as it seems.
-The planning is annoying, and the hours are long, but it is all forgotten when the first little boy walks into my classroom each morning, greets me with "buenos días," and starts sharpening my pencils.

Day 1

On my way back from work today, the radio congratulated all teachers who had just made it through their first day. I couldn't help but grin. I'd been warned about this first day. "You won't sleep a wink the night before," they told me. "Don't be discouraged if everything goes wrong." "This is as hard as it gets." Strangely enough, they were wrong. Today was fun. My classroom, waiting for its students. From my desk. My beautiful library (Notice the Spanish copies and accompanying characters of Curious George and Charlotte's Web.)

First impressions

I met my students tonight! Tonight was supply drop-off night, and parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and students took the opportunity to come and meet the teacher.

After my two weeks of training and manuals, the statistics and theories suddenly became real children, children with shiny black hair and brown eyes. The little girls peered from their mothers blouses and blushed when I commented on their pretty names. The boys masked their nervousness in baggy pants and brusque focus, but they grinned shyly when I spoke to them.

Early challenges

I've spent hours in my classroom, and it is slowly coming together. Tomorrow, the third-grade team will finish its lesson plans for our first week of classes. On Thursday, we cover school policies and procedures, and I can finally complete my classroom discipline plan.

No real adventure, however, would be complete without a few early challenges. My school district is about 50% Hispanic students, 25% African American, and 25% Caucasian. However, our resources are almost entirely in English. I have several bilingual resources, but most of the programs we are encouraged to use are rendered useless by the language barrier. Part of the problem could simply be the lack of available quality bilingual materials. I have scoured every Half-Price Books store in town for Spanish literature. I resorted to splurging on a brand new copy of "Sarah, Sencilla Y Alta." Even internet sources yield very few Spanish equivalents to my favorite English children's books.

I am too new to the English vs. Spanish debate to have an opinion yet; however, I do think that if the nation is going to resist making English the official language, Spanish literature and bilingual resources for teachers should be more readily available.

Starting off

I'm grown now, at least that's what they tell me. Somehow, when I walked across that stage on May 3, I was walking into a new world, one of insurance and decisions and interviews and social norms. And now that I am an adult, I am also an educator. In one week, 20 Hispanic students will walk into my classroom, and I will teach them.

This then, is the story of my commencement, both as a teacher and as an adult.