My first day!

From the Star

So today was the day - my first day with my new 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. How exciting - and oh so frightening. Just think about it, a Special Education major with an endorsement in Early Intervention and I have been placed in the "BIG Kids" class! And did I mention that I am 5'1" and half the students are bigger than I am!

To add to the pressure, for anyone that doesn't know, I am the daughter of Dayle Timmons - yes, THAT Dayle Timmons, the phenomenal Florida Teacher of the Year! Talk about living up to the family name and reputation! At least, I'm in another county.

My classroom is one of four in a pod with a shared space in the middle, so I sort of share my space with three other teachers. Good thing we get along. I do love my other teachers. They have gone out of their way to make me comfortable and have given me so much help and advice. I give them lots of credit for getting this "newbie" through the first day.

When the parents first came I noticed that they didn't even look at my classroom (after all that work!) They were much more focused on "oh my gosh - my kid got stuck with the new teacher." They didn't really say it but I could just see it in their faces. So... my goal this year is to show the parents and the students that I am here for them and I am going to make a difference in each and every child's success in my class!

I thought I learned a lot in school but they forgot to mention a lot when it comes to your first day of teaching. I mean I forgot to pick up my children from PE on the first day - probably not a real good start. When the students got back to the classroom one of them said, "Ohhhh, the PE coaches are really mad at you!" Oh great - making mistakes and my day isn't even half over. And then I forgot to bring the students' ID numbers to lunch. We don't eat until 1:05 so at least the kids didn't mind waiting. R-i-g-h-t!

I have a multi-age classroom with 3rd-4th-5th all in the same classroom. That was new to me and you're probably thinking the same thing I was thinking - how does that work? After just this first day, it really does seem to work. I will let you know more about how it works as the year goes on and I really fully understand how it all works! Lots to learn!

All in all, I had a wonderful day with my children. I was worried. Kids this age don't have the best reputation - I had even had a few nightmares. However, I was totally delighted to find out how wonderful and respectful my students were on our first day. I know we are going to to have a great year! Until next time...