You only have one first day...

Pin It One of the best parts about school today was a comment I got from a fellow blogger who said, “Those fifth graders only have one first day of fifth grade. You only have one first day of your 8th year of teaching....how cool is that?”

It got me to thinking.

I thought about it all the way to school.

When the kids came in and the day began, I said something like this; “I want to know if any of you are like me. I don’t want you to raise your hand. I don’t want you to shout out if it is the same. I just want you to think about this, and decide if we’re a little bit the same…

"Yesterday, my sister and I had dinner and I thought about school.
We watched a few episodes of “Smallville” and I thought about school.
I went to bed, thinking about school.
I stared at the ceiling for a long time thinking about school.
I think I had a nightmare about school.
When I woke up and took a shower, I was thinking about school.
I went down for breakfast and thought about school.
I brushed my teeth and made my lunch thinking about school.
As I got into my car I sat there with the engine running. I thought to myself, once you pull out of your parking space, summer will officially be over and you’ll be back at school.
I took a deep breath, I smiled, and drove to school.”

Several of the kids nodded.

“I also felt just a little bit scared and excited at the same time. Scared because today is not only your first day of fifth grade…it’s my first day of fifth grade too. I’ve taught 3rd, 4th, and 6th grades, but I’ve never taught 5th before…we’re all in 5th grade for the first time together.

“I also think that some of you are a bit scared because you are at a brand-new school with new kids you still haven’t made friends with yet.

“Some of you are scared because you don’t know where the drinking fountains or bathrooms are…or if you got lost, could your find your way back to room 18? There’s something which scares us all with not knowing where we could find a bathroom if we really needed it, after all, what if you were about to explode? I just want you to know that I know what you’re feeling because I had those same feelings too…but you know what? I know where the bathroom is now, and that makes me feel a lot safer here. We’re going to take a little tour of the school to find out where these things are, so you’ll feel better too…those of you who have been at this school for years, I’m asking you to be patient as we show the new students to the school these places—after all—you’d want to know where they were in a new place as well.”

I could go on for pages about the first day, but I won’t. There’s no need to bore you with the various and sundry details which make up an entire school day.

Suffice it to say, a comment by one of the kids summed up the day, “Whoa! It’s already lunchtime? This day has flown by!”

Time flies when you’re having fun.