The First Days, Compared

Indeed, there are few differences between my first days of school in either year of Mississippi Teacher Corps (MTC). Both days were uneventful in that I picked up my students, took them to the classroom, and immediately started going over the rules and procedures over and over again. Were it not so uneventful and rather forgettable, I would have a true story to tell.

Of course, it is worth mentioning that the nerves were there. I could teach for twenty years and still be nervous on the first day. Feelings rush forward. And what was once an innocent task appears daunting. Something negligible now looms large and imposing. The first reactions. Will the students see me as a good teacher, one who enforces the rules quickly and fairly without reservation? Will the students trust me enough to take away my presentation of the content? Yes, somewhat instinctively, I make mountains from scattered pebbles. The nerves are what get me. Moving, inching closer toward the classroom, I am overcome by something raw, a mixture of worry and excitement.

Certainly, this year, I have more classrooms and more students. Last year, I was blessed to teach just two sections of sixth-grade students. At present, I have five sections of eighth-grade students. Still, the changes are relatively few. Students are students no matter where I go, whether I have five or fifty.

The very concept of time matters more in this new year. I went into my first day of school knowing I had a full week to teach my rules and procedures. Last year I was not so lucky. I knew I had two days to do everything. Further, the similarity that sticks out is the trip to lunch. In either school the trip to lunch was not immediate. Moreover, in my new site, we make a trek to the cafeteria, literally across the campus. Time was a huge factor for me on the first day of school for both years. Never feeling like I had enough, I knew I had precious little to waste.

In short, my first days at both schools were short and simple. Nothing major or unexpected occurred. I held homeroom for a long while. I had the students fill out student information sheets, reading surveys, and the typical “Getting to Know You” sheets where I ask for banal information that I rarely and never really intend to use or incorporate. For sure, the first days of school were as nice and normal as they should have been. Anything less would have been surprising. I did not write "surprises" on the requisite MTC-style lesson plans.