Maybe Blogging Will Keep Me Sane

Everyone... come see how good my classroom looks!!!



Twas' the night before first grade...

So the Big Day is tomorrow, and right now I feel... fine, actually. Surprising since I had no fewer than four meltdowns yesterday. I think part of it is feeling a lot better about my classroom and materials being ready. It looks so cute!! Maybe I'll just ditch my plans and make my kids sit on the carpet and compliment my teacher craftsmanship. Or I can do what I did when I learned how to read- sit on them and read Are You My Mother?

My team was (once again) awesome today. Together they ran off all of my copies for the math curriculum for the next few weeks and answered approximately 748 questions. Then the other TFA '09 corps member in my school helped me out hanging up my number line. I got a crick in my back (I'm 80 years old apparently) and had to stop climbing up and down the cabinets to hot glue gun the individual pieces.

I think my mom has been recruiting people to call me and keep me going off the deep end. First, my godmother called me last night to tell me about how nervous she was her first day, and still is even after 13 years of teaching. When I told her how nervous I was about getting kids home, she was like, "Oh, things like that have a way of figuring themselves out. I lost one of my kindergartners after an assembly my first day." Basically, I need to remember that everyone makes mistakes.

Then I talked to my mom's college roommate for awhile at the very end of school today. There's a whole crew that comes along with her (her husband, son, and daughter, along with another family) and I've known them since birth. Seven of us kids, and not one of us turned out normal. Usually, we go on a big vacation in August, renting a beach house and wreaking havoc by setting off fireworks (okay, maybe that's just Chris), but this year, the parents left the kids behind for a week in Vegas. Psh. We wanted to teach them a lesson, but none of us has any money to finance a trip capable of making them jealous of us. I'm missing all of them like crazy, especially knowing that are yearly New Year's Eve celebration may not be happening. Sad stuff.

But anyway, back to the phone call- she's a teacher in the NYC public school system, and she had a lot to say to boost my confidence. Mainly that the kids will love me and think I'm beautiful. I was hoping for that, because every once in awhile a girl needs a self-esteem lift. But really, all she had to say was extremely helpful and calming. For some reason, it makes me feel a lot better knowing that EVERYONE freaks out their first day of teaching. Maybe it's not feeling better but just accepting the inevitable.

Then of course, my dad called me from Manhattan, where he's taking my little brother to school to be an all-star laxer. He's so much more practical than I am. And he calls me out when I get upset over "stupid shit" (i.e. poorly laminated nameplates). I'll end this post with his best advice.

"Just remember- it's the greatest job in the world."

"When it comes down to it, no matter who you're teaching, you're smarter than them. You can always pull that card."

"Shut up and run."

Okay, maybe that last one didn't happen in our most recent conversation, but part of me wants to take that bit of advice and run away to South Carolina or something. Gah. Wish me luck.