First day!  Driving home I commented to my daughters that this may be the best I’ve ever felt after the first day of school.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love getting to once again be in the presence of all these wonderful young people. But first days can be pretty exhausting for teachers (and for students, too, especially those new to the community).  Today was tiring, but also invigorating.  

To tell the truth, I could barely keep up with some of the returning students’ desire to consume knowledge! Algebra, chemistry, mammal research, compound multiplication, singular and plural variations of nouns, addition facts, multiples, fundamental needs of humans, and on and on.   

In past years we’ve spent a great deal of time on orientation activities the first few days.  But returning students always bemoan the fact that they are kept from their beloved lessons during this orientation time.   So I listened. This year we gathered a brief name game, divided into groups for some time to set-up learning logs, and then everyone dove into their work.  New students were quick to catch on, especially with the help of our skilled veteran students.  

By 11:00 am, the room was settled and everyone was super engaged.  Wonderful, yet I knew that in a few minutes we would need to reconvene to talk about the transition to lunch, PE, and recess.  To interrupt such wonderful focus was painful, indeed!  But we needed the time to prepare for the transitions, and also touch base about mid-day jobs and the afternoon workshops.

At the end of the day so many students expressed bewilderment that it was time to get ready for dismissals. “That was a short day,” one boy said with shock.  Time flies when you are having fun!