Day 1

Yesterday was the worst first day of my teaching career. I have five students this year...or so I thought. I was so proud of my organizational skills on Friday. I had the whole week planned out to a T! I had copies made and I even made a cute video about my classroom rules and expectations. I was giddy with first day of school on Sunday night, to the point where I couldn't sleep. You know the feeling you had or maybe still have on Christmas Eve. The excitement over being with family and opening gifts on Christmas morning well the day before school starts is like that. I love school and I always have. I was so excited about my class this year because I have five very low functioning children but with excellent behavior! The past three years have been behavior problem after behavior problem so you could understand my excitement about the boring behavior free class I was scheduled to have. The plan was I would drop wee one off early at the babysitter so I could be in my classroom for my favorite part of the day. The classroom is quiet and I get everything ready for the day and write Welcome Back on the board and there is that wonderful feeling of anticipation tingling in my little teacher's heart. Then the plan was my two assistants would arrive and we'd have a few minutes to visit and I would be able to go over everything that I have changed this year. Then like a trio of superheros we'd swoop to the front doors and pick up our children off the bus. We would have went to breakfast in the brand new cafeteria and I'd get to listen to their chatter about being back at school and listen to them ohh and ahh over the new cafeteria. Then we'd head off to the classroom and get our day started. I would shut the door and we'd be in another world of exciting learning and happiness. I would get to show my really neat video and watch their faces light up with amusement. *Sigh* THEN I WOKE UP ABRUPTLY FROM A DREAM and reality sunk in. That perfect day only exists in teaching fairy tales I guess because that is SO NOT HOW MY FIRST DAY WENT!

DAY 1: Went out to the buses still in my fairy tale state of mind and NOPE, WHOP, SWOOSH (that was my head being smacked against the reality wall) the bus driver informs me, "We have a kid who won't get off the bus!" I climb aboard and see he is a new kiddo and within about 20 seconds realize that he will be MY new kiddo from the looks and sounds of it. YUP, he's mine. Refused to get off the bus, remember people buses in the heat are not fun! I finally convince him that it is really hot on the bus and we should go sit on that friendly bench to cool off and feel the breeze. It worked and we got off the bus and so my day had started. I never got to see my kids until we were well into the first half hour of school. I then think phew my day is going to calm down. And now for the sake of time I will do the very quick list form:

1)while dealing with the won't get off the bus kiddo I was given another new student
2)discovered this 2nd new student was more annoying that fingernails on a chalkboard because every 20 seconds he said I have a question and then proceeds to tell a long drawn out pointless story just to hear himself speak. I did discover he is WAY to high functioning for my classroom!
3)between the first two new kids I have a parent arrive to check in on her son and I quickly say sorry I've got to run new kids popping out of the woodwork.
4) sweating profusely now I discover everyone is sweating profusely because the AIR CONDITIONING IS BROKEN!!!! ALL DAY!!!!!!!
5) finally get to sit for about two minutes and do a little interacting with the kiddos
6)ANOTHER NEW STUDENT ARRIVES...wrong placement again poor thing was too high functioning and terrified he was going to be left in this scary room
7)lunch finally arrives and so does another student
8)new student needs to be at a different more self-contained school because he has a very bad history of portraying some really not so nice behaviors and running away.
9)lunch sits on desk for another hour or two before is scarfed down cold and mushy
10) got rid of three of the four new students and they are now in appropriate places
11) had no address for the last new student who is non-verbal to send him home on the correct bus
12)frantic phone tag searching eventually proves fruitful and child is sent home on correct bus
13) sat through the most boring staff meeting in a long while
14) WENT HOME!

Day 2 starts in two hours!