What a Week!

The first week of school is always interesting (to say the very least). 

We started Monday with Meet the Teacher (I’d like to say a HUGE thanks to the district for letting us start Tuesday). Every year, younger siblings come with my students and tear up my room. Every year. Never fails. Thankfully, this year, it was only one, and after a brief terrorization, the grandmother took him out of the room and didn’t let him come back. So much better than the ones who act like the kid isn’t doing anything and let them continue. 

I always have families fill out a little information sheet about the child at Meet the Teacher so I’ll have an idea of what to expect on the first day. On the sheet, there is a place for the “name the child would like to be called” because they are kindergarteners and can’t tell you when you’re calling them the wrong name most of the time. Usually I just get a few nicknames or initials instead of the full name. This year, I had parents put that their child would like to be called Weecho and Daddy. Yeah, right. Those children are learning to be called by their full names! 

Tuesday was the first day of school, and I only had two criers. I was impressed. They didn’t even cry for long. No one got lost, and everyone got home the right way. Success! 

Wednesday I had morning duty at the crosswalk. I didn’t know anything about what to expect. Off I went to my duty station with no stop sign, nothing. Later that day, almost all the other teachers who have duty at that station at some point offered me a stop sign. I have my very own now. I like that duty station because I get to see parents and children interacting on their way to the school–it explains A LOT. It was another successful day–no one lost; everyone got home!

Thursday as I walked to my duty station, I had to laugh when an older kid walked by with a shirt on that had a quote about his “swagger” (I don’t remember exactly what it said, but really? He was maybe in fourth grade). One of my criers tried to escape after his mom dropped him off, but he didn’t get out of the classroom (thank goodness)! Otherwise, we had another successful day! 

Today was Friday, and it was pretty interesting because my kiddos don’t really understand what that  means yet. Once they get it figured out, Fridays are fun. On the way to the crosswalk, the same kid had on a different shirt about his “swagger”. It makes me wonder how many he has. I’m going to ask him about what his shirt means next time he wears one. (I’m turning into such an old lady.) No one cried this morning, so that was a definite plus! 

As tired as I am, it’s fun watching all the little personalities emerge as everyone sinks into their classroom roles. I’ve already got some leaders, some trouble makers (of course), a few helpers, and some shy ones. We’ll see how they progress throughout the year.