Inspiration to Perspiration

I went from "Finally!" to "Now what?!?" in less than 12 hours.

In the time it took me to drink an entire bottle of champagne then jolt awake at 4:45am I went from relieved the application/interview/hiring process was over and brimming with ideas to inspire and educate 30 young minds to terrified with the prospect of not having even the slightest idea as to what I was getting into and what I am supposed to do.

So what is a new teacher feeling with just over one week before school starts?

• Nauseated (then again, see champagne contribution above)
• Nervous
• Unprepared
• Panicked
• Lost
• Clueless
• Embarrassed (what if someone finds out I'm clueless?)
• Overwhelmed
• Shy
• Jittery
• Duplicitous (did I lie when I said I could do this?)
• Confused

Part of it is the fact that I don't know yet what grade I'll be teaching. Probably 4th, but maybe 2nd or 3rd? Since I don't know the grade level no one knew what room I would be in. I think I will feel much better, more confident and prepared, once I'm standing in our classroom with specific students to plan for.

I hope.

Do teachers throw up on the first day of school?

My student she wrote me a letter...

Great idea here -- Sup Teach? -- for getting to know students and their perception of your class/subject.  I strongly believe in a lot of student feedback, and parent input too, especially since what they say usually reveals more about the student then about the teacher, and can help tailor instruction and intervention.

Day Two!

Which leads to the logical conclusion that yes, I did indeed survive Day One.

Aside from sending kids to the wrong place at the wrong time, and to the right place at the wrong time, and to the wrong... whatever, they all were accounted for at the end of the day.  No tears and no blood, no drama, and just a little whining....

Day 2 replaces the head-swimming confusion of schedules and syllabuses (syllabi?) with that of CELT scores and IEPs, plus I have to figure out how to play "Bowling Dodge Ball" for my 3rd graders tomorrow.  But Day 2 also brings my first ever prep period, so I have a student-free classroom, Pandora radio soothing my savage beast*, and not much else to do for the next hour ...?

*it's hard to separate P.E. coach from Football coach -- I am 95% very positive with my teams, but at a much higher, more insistent volume level than allowed on the school grounds.  And the other 5% is most definitely not allowed on campus.

My FIRST First Day

...and yes, I am a little on the terrified side. 

Part of me knows this will work out just fine: it's a long-term sub job coaching Middle School P.E., at my sons' school where I've subbed and done observations and taught Art and hung around asking questions, where I know the kids and the Staff...

And part of me knows this is an inevitable disaster of epic proportions: after all, I'm still a sub, it is (shudder) Middle School, and everyone who has known me all these years will see I'm a clueless fraud, and if I can't manage a P.E. class I will never, ever get a classroom... 

Not only that, but I can't decide on what to wear.