The first week of school

Ten small bright faces staring up at me. One new to the position but not to the building paraprofessional working with me. one little kid who shows up on the bus on the first day of school, carrying in his arms a package of diapers and a boc of wipes in his Gerber bag. He arrives with no name tag whatsoever and is unable to say his name. 3 phone calls from a neighboring school district about a former student of mine. one angry parent complaining that the room is dirty and student work is not displayed on the second day of school. Several conversations with my principal about the needs of very young children. One student from last year who may be returning due to some complicated special education laws. Countless questions from some families, not yet a word from others. One open house to plan for already. 5 graduate credits signed up for so far. An empty ink cartridge at home. Smiles. lots of hugs. A few tears. Some anxious moments. a few sick stomachs and a couple of sleepless nights. Overall, it was a wonderful first week back at school, though extremely exhausting.

I consider myself really lucky. I love the age of the students that I teach. At this age they are still curious, still eager, still so full of magical thinking. I love that I get to help develop their oral language skills through songs and storytelling. I am always at amazed at how vast their differences are when school starts. I have kids who have come in this year writing their first and last names, and one ( who is starting is 3rd year in my classroom) who is reading simple words. In the same room, sitting at the same table are who kids who hadn't seen their name in print until they walked into the classroom on their first day. Some of them haven't yet separated their name from their picture and are not yet making letter like marks on their papers.
I am looking forward to the year, teaching the students at all of their different levels, and developing relationships with their parents.