Reflections on Day 1

Big news in Larkland! The last few months have been jam-packed with coursework, playing pretend, little snippets of experience, planning three hours of work for a one-hour time slot, and lots of reflecting. All of this was in preparation for today, and the rest of this beast of a thing called teaching! Turns out it's all worth it, and as of today, I'm planning to stick with it. :) I'll even enjoy myself a little bit, from the feel of it.

The students at McNary started their second semester today, and I got to greet many of them as their real, live, official teacher. The first two periods of the day were preparation periods for me, and the race began after lunch. I taught 3rd period Reading and Writing Enrichment to 15 ninth graders, and then 4th period Honors English 10 to a group of 37 sophomores.

If today was all I had to make sweeping statements and generalizations about all students, this is what I would have learned:
1. All students want to laugh and would like to be entertained a little bit
2. All students want to be helpful, though some try to hide it.
3. All students want to be good at something.
4. All students are interested in finding what they have in common with others.
5. All students are afraid of something in school.
6. All students want to be social, though they show it in different ways.
7. All students need help learning how to participate.

It really was a great day, and I appreciated the support and positive energy I felt from the students. We'll be great together.