Last Day of Prep

Keeping up with this blog the way I want to is proving itself to be a little more than I can do right now. So I will ask my readers (the two of you) to be patient with me. Pictures will hopefully be posted this weekend. Posts will be a bit sporadic. Bear with me.

It's been a crazy week! We got a new 4th grade teacher, she really had to hustle to get her room ready! So Thursday our projected numbers dropped down for class size. I felt good knowing I would have 18 students and actually had a place for each of them to sit. We worked hard and got our Parent Handbook finished and copied, our rooms fixed up a bit more, and received our curriculum for the year.

This morning I went to the convocation where all the hundreds of teachers in our district gathered. It was really awesome. It was like a big pep rally. We had two marching bands, a drum line, and all the cheerleaders of the district there. Everyone was proud of their schools and excited to clap and cheer for their school. Ron Clark spoke to us and was nothing short of inspiring. He had us laughing, crying and hanging on his every word. A 4th grade teacher took a picture of him for me. I think I'll print it and put it in my classroom for inspiration.

This afternoon I ran around like crazy trying to get ready for our Parent Orientation. We still didn't know which kids we would have in our classes. The poor ladies in the office were going to have to work late tonight and stay until they could post the lists on the front doors of the school for the parents. All I know so far is that it looks like we probably have around 20 kids each which means once again I do not have enough desks for my kids. I get to figure that one out on Monday morning. The air was not working in my room and it was HOT. I started feeling panicky about how much needed to be done. I got my room cleaned up and then parents started arriving. A few walked down our hall early and I heard kids peek into my veteran team member's classroom and remark that that is where they hoped they would be. I felt frustrated because if I were a kid, that's where I would want to be too. I felt stressed with my much more spartan room.

All the parents met if the cafetorium where the principal spoke to them. It didn't go well. The room was hot, especially with a large crowd. The PA didn't work so she had to use a bullhorn and since she has been losing her voice, the parents couldn't hear. Added to this was the fact that they couldn't be told who their child's teacher would be. I looked at a crowd of irritated parents. They were ours next. We split the 4th grade team into two rooms and gave our short but sweet presentations. I talked to some parents individually and introduced myself to some of the students. Talking with them put me at ease. The parents looked less irritated and some of them even said that they hoped I was going to be their child's teacher. I assured them that no matter who they got, they could know their child was with one of the best. Still, it took the sting out of the room comments from earlier.

The challenge of next week is huge. We have over twice the amount of kids in the school than they had last year. Only 75 of those kids are returning students. I've got a warm room, a couple too few desks, and while I know what I'm doing the first day, we have to create our lesson plans for the rest of the week still. But I can't wait! I'm totally stressed out and feeling like a big baby for being nervous but I think once I get to start my day Monday with my new kids it will all melt away. I'm just going to roll with it.