The First Day of School (yes, it's only mid-August...)

Tomorrow's the first day of school with our babies (the Kindergarteners; Tuesday for everyone else) and I'm psyched...the time when teaching is no longer just an idea, but reality has come. There were times during the past two weeks when I was a bit down, as everyone was working to prepare their classrooms for tomorrow while I really had no idea what my room should look like (I got as far as having a word wall and some borders, pictures coming soon), and would find myself spending my time outsourcing myself to help others set up (which always provoked a certain yearning to have my own classroom...as cheesy as that is!) or on gchat (thanks to those that entertained me!). To make matters worse, despite having spent a good couple of days in training, I still had no idea as to what my role would entail (aside from working with kids both in and out of the classroom-pushing in vs. pulling out), which produced a whole lot of anxiety in me (I'm definitely more of a planner than a "go-with-the-flow" kind of person when it comes to work). Needless to say, I've experienced quite a bit of frustration (and at least my room is somewhat homey..still looking to invest in lanterns...holler at me if you've got some donations!).

Still, I find myself, the day before the first day of school, as excited as I was 13 years ago (the farthest my memory of the day before the first day of school goes), except now I'm mentally going through my wardrobe to pick out that crucial "first-day-of-school" outfit (by the way, I'm still deciding, so recommendations welcome!). Despite having only been in the field for a mere 2 months, I've already experienced quite a bit of banana peels, but due to my tenacity (for a full 43 minute experience of exemplars and non-exemplars, check out my latest marathon, for a limited time only, since hulu shuffles through these like no other), I remain as motivated as ever, because after all, it's not about us. It's about the kids.

P.S. Here's a clip from The Secretariat that my principal showed us. Brownie points if you can make the connection to my work in education.