Still Standing

I completed my first three days of teaching and I'm still standing.  I met every child in the school last week, all 320 of them.  I think I had this idea going in that if I just read up enough on starting the school year, and just created enough clear rules and procedures that everything would go perfectly.  Everything did not go perfectly.  I had many of the same struggles that I had when I was student teaching.  I still find the Kindergarteners very difficult to manage, especially since I have them at the end of the day when they are very tired.  Last week I found that I could be successful in gaining the kindergartener's attention, but not in maintaining it.   I had some of the feelings I've felt in the past; namely that I'm fighting against a current rather than channeling it.  My goal for this year is to learn to direct the energy of the children rather than to fight against it.

Even though I had hoped (erroneously) that I would be able to start the year with everything in perfect order, I came away from my first week feeling encouraged.  The children were so sweet and earnest, I loved watching them become animated when they engaged in their artwork.  My mantra for this year is to be kind to myself as I experiment with ways to best manage the children in my classroom.  The art lessons do not worry me; this is the part that gives me so much joy- coming up with what to do next and creating examples for the children to see.  It's that management that's always been a challenge for me and that will be my focus this year.