Another Year, Another Class

It is the fifth week of school and I find myself still baring the “Mean Ms. P” fangs.  I miss my own smile.  The beginning of the year always begins with a stricter-than-usual version of myself, which pays off later when the classroom is running smoothly and learning becomes fun for everyone.  This year I have a unique group of students consisting of 75 percent only children or youngest children in the family.  With this dynamic, my cheery disposition has been set aside a bit longer than I find comfortable.  This week I found myself pulling new ideas out of my ever-increasing hat of tricks.  “Life lessons with Ms. P” was my latest invention.  Our first lesson: Doing Things You Don’t Want to Do.  Through discussion we created an anchor chart, students shared their ideas, and we wrote them down.  Some of my favorites included “it’s for your own good” and “zip it”.  After our discussion and repeatedly revisiting the chart throughout the week, as well as little notes of encouragement, I began to see progress. 

This group of children will learn and grow just like their predecessors I see in the halls each day, waving and smiling at me.  This year we will laugh, cry, have problems, solve them, get a little messy and become a team.  We will learn multiplication and reading comprehension skills.  We will write our first chapter books and jump with excitement during the Times Table Hockey Tournament.  It will be another great year.

And so I start my fourteenth year of teaching, knowing it will be special.  I will teach differently than I did the year before.  I will learn new things.  I will be exhausted and get sick.  I will have mornings I don’t want to get out of bed.  I will have nights when I dream lesson plans.  I will have a blast doing the best job in the world and “Life lessons with Ms. P” will have been worth all the extra effort.  If not, Fall Break is just around the corner.