So the school year officially begins on Monday, which means that my summer vacation has officially ended. Truthfully? I'm not as sad about it as you might think. Part of it has to do with the fact that it is fun to redecorate your classroom every year (after you get over the initial mumbling and grumbling stage, aka, the unpacking and cleaning). Here's what my classroom looks like this year -- pardon the blur, they were taken with my iPhone:
I still want to add a few more things to my classroom before I can consider it done -- namely a small fridge and a Harry Potter poster -- but it can wait until things settle down a bit.
Another reason why I'm not feeling so bad about starting the new school year is that I get to end my summer vacation on a high note -- while I was going quietly crazy at work today, bouncing from meeting to meeting, my boyfriend called to suggest we go to Islands of Adventure tomorrow until Sunday because our annual passes are about to expire. For a nanosecond, I thought, Are you insane? But then I decided, Oh what the heck. I'll just stress myself out if I stay home and wind up spending all weekend creating color-coded seating charts and whatnot. Better to go to Orlando and have butterbeer and ride the Dragon Challenge, especially since I've been on such a Harry Potter kick this summer. I'll probably start the school year more relaxed that way!
The biggest reason why I'm happy to begin the new school year? It's simply because I'm excited to meet my new students. It is both the blessing and the curse of the teacher that we play but a transient role in the lives of our students. When you think about it, we truly spend so little time with them and ultimately have that blink-and-you'll-miss-it chance to make a difference in their lives. I become newly aware of this fact every August. Even though I'm going into my ninth (!!!) year teaching this school year, I still get butterflies in my stomach every time school starts up again. If I'm blessed enough to still be teaching when I'm old and gray, something tells me I will still continue to get those butterflies. I hope they never fly away.
this photo is small, i don't care, shut up.
11 hours ago





























