Go.

First Day = A tad overwhelming, but overall - AWESOME!  I told a friend today that I feel like there's so much to do and so little time, yet there's so little to do and so much time.  She agreed.  Maybe it's a teacher thing.

I kind of can't believe I'm actually a teacher.  Someone thought it would be a good idea to entrust the lives of 28 8/9-year-olds to me for 7 hours a day.  On top of that I'm responsible for their educational progression for the next 9 months.  I had a "What the hell did I get myself into?!" moment today, but it was just for a bit.  I think it's that new-job feeling.  It's just gonna take time to get the hang of things.

Highlights from the day:

Most of my kids LOVED the pirate theme.  It even works great as a reward/punishment system.  I could already tell they'd be disappointed to lose pirate treasure and/or points.  That's a good thing.  One girl, however, was not so enthused.  She didn't want to be a pirate, or even a princess - what else is there?, I ask you.

Math time was a challenge.  My kids struggled to count by tens.  Some even struggled with counting by ones.   I was helping a young man with this problem ( ___, 918, 919, ___) and he mostly just gave me a blank stare.  WHAT THIRD GRADER CAN'T COUNT BY ONES?!?!?!?!?!?!?! *sigh*

Nothing funny happened today though - unfortunately (well, aside from the myriad mustache comments from all sides).  Everyone's still on their best behavior because it's the first day.  But I'm sure the hilarity will be shortly forthcoming.  

I think the next few weeks (who am I kidding, the next several years) are going to be exhausting.  I didn't get out of the school until about a quarter to six today (I was the last person to leave besides the sweepers), which meant I went straight to the theater for a show (during which a cast member ripped out her dress, on purpose, by flexing her muscles - it was awesome.)  The show ends on Sept. 20 (shameless plug - come see me!).  During two of the next 4 Saturdays I have to perform in all three shows.  This week being one of those weeks.  I'm gonna be dead.  

P. S. My classroom has no air conditioning.  It was 100 degrees today and I had 25 kids in my room. Brutal.