For most people a new beginning and the opportunity for change is heralded by New Year’s Day. For me the feeling of renewal has always come with the first day of school. It is a time when everyone brandishes a clean slate and once again there is the potential to erase mistakes and to improve. Everyone shows up on day one with hopefulness, a bag full of fresh supplies, and usually a new pair of shoes. Even the teachers boast new haircuts and not a single staple is hanging from their carefully prepared classrooms. It’s truly a day of optimism when even a meltdown on Wall Street lacks the power to kill the joy.
Of course the sense of renewal and excitement is sometimes tempered very quickly. It’s easy to determine just how dedicated to learning the students will be within a very few minutes. A group that sits quietly and attentively on the first meeting has the potential to be molded and motivated. One that demonstrates its propensity for mischief from the start is more likely to require a firmer hand as the days and weeks go by. The class lists change as quickly as the weather and all of those efforts to personalize seating charts go up in flames. There never seem to be enough textbooks for each of the students no matter how well the needed numbers were considered. An experienced teacher knows how to punt because it is a rare first encounter with the students when all goes as planned. There will always be slackers who return without completed summer assignments and those who insist on challenging authority from the get go. Still the skilled teacher knows that it will be the most fun bringing around the most difficult characters. Continue reading “The First Days”
All It Takes Is A Little Love 