Calm Before the Storm

Image from Martin Rondell.

On September 5th I will be meeting my students for the 1st time. I have 15 new 7th graders to impart my knowledge on and again I feel anxious and apprehensive.

Last year, I thought I would do alright and have a very successful first day of class. I ended up having one student throw pens at some fellow classmates and I walked back to the library looking "shell-shocked."

I remember before start of classes, I printed out the photos of the students I would have all year long and thought, "Oh look! They are so cute! I'm sure they are really nice, well-behaved kids. No problem." I am not complaining but looks can be deceiving. Don't get me wrong. I love my kids from last year. I cannot wait to see how they are since summer is over but you really never know what a kid is like by looking at their ID pictures.

This time I was looking at the kids and thinking, "Well, there's 15 of them."

Ok, I am a little ticked because this year, I was originally assigned 16 kids while my friend, Ambookgeek, only has 8. 8 Kids!!!????!!! And our other counterpart only has 11. I get it. Scheduling, conflicts, blah blah blah but seriously, how is that fair? This means more comments, more grading, more young minds to mold.

What is the plus side? Well, I will hopefully have 15 new kids who I'll adore and want to succeed in the future.

Careening on the Edge

This is the first week of Fast Start and I again feel like I am floundering.

For those who are wondering, Fast Start is our week long intensive course for new 9th graders. Basically, we teach them how they need to conduct research at school and familiarize them with the library's resources.

Basically, I kind of suck at the whole speaking in front of a class thing. STILL! I thought, I would be fine but then I started talking. It is like every thing I taught and learned last year completely disappeared from my mind. It feels like the first year again. Does this happen to other teachers? I know about the beginning of the year jitters but geez, this is ridiculous.

Who knew that taking a summer off would have such an affect on me?

Not that I am complaining because I do not know how anyone does not have summer's off after this. It's unfair! But this goes with my whole theory of implementing siestas in the states...

I have two more days with the new kids. They all seem pretty nice though I can also tell that some of them think I'm a d-bag or am stupid. I get this look sometimes, when I am standing in front of them, and I go completely blank. I think, I space out, get a little cross-eyed, my mouth may even hang open...I don't know. But it does not feel pretty.

I just have to tell myself that I need to be ready by the 5th of September and to close my mouth and not look like a deer in headlights.

Countdown to the end of Summer Vacation

I have a week left before the meetings begin and we start getting the library ready for the new school year. Last year was overwhelming, exciting, panic-inducing, entertaining and was one of the most educating experiences of my life.

I am starting my 2nd year of school librarianship and teaching.

I have been contemplating what my goals for the new year will be. Reflecting on last year, which started off with a BANG!, I am less afraid of the kids this year. I had never worked with a classroom of kids before and the thought of having to teach 14 middle schools woke me up in night sweats in the middle of the night.
I plan on taking advantage of all of the benefits of working at a fabulous school that allows me to attend conferences. I would like to focus on the EdTech side of things.
I will also be working on my ability to forge relationships with the parents. I do not know how people foster these relationships, I am just not very good at it. Parents freak me out. There! I said it! It's true!

I have about 10 days left. Time to switch from summer mode to school mode.