Starting School for the First Time...

You know, I was never really nervous about the first day of school. Well, maybe I was a little when I changed schools, like going from elementary to intermediate, then back to elementary (No, I wasn’t demoted--our school district was crazy), then to middle school, and so on. But as far as the first day of school, I guess I figured out early that its the easiest day of the whole year. All you have to do is show up and sit there. Sure, you play “introduction” games and write your name and address 8 million times, but really, its the easiest day of the year.

Well, this year I get to have TEN very-first days of school, and 46 “introductory” classes. (I only see my kids once a week, and I have two schools--that’s how that works) I have to admit, I’m pretty nervous. The first day is where the students assess their teachers’ expectations and disciplinary strategies and figure out just exactly how much the teacher will allow them to progress and slack off. The first days of school are the foundation for how the year is going to go and are by far the most important days of the entire year. I’ve been working most of the summer on plans and such, and my room is nearly finished (I still have some laminating that I’m waiting on in the library--since we’re not allowed to touch the machinery anymore) but I just am not totally sure I’m ready.
We had in-service for the past two weeks (the first week was new teacher orientation, and this past week was district-wide in-service) and I gotta tell you, my brain is mush. ***I’m about to rant for a minute...You’ve been warned***

I’ve been beaten down by TAKS scores and TAKS goals and TAKS this and TAKS that..... I’m sorry, but I TEACH MUSIC!!!!!! While I have guidelines and concepts that I have to teach (shouldn’t that be a given?), my purpose is to teach the kids the information they need to know to progress to the next level while building positive and encouraging teacher-student relationships with them. The test isn’t what matters. I mean, yeah, that’s how the schools stay open and get recognized and assess their productivity, but HELLO?!?!? The reason we’re even there is to teach THE KIDS the information. Not to teach to the test, or teach them what’s on the test, or teach them how to take the test, or how to pass the test, or how to set goals for the test....... are you getting my point?

The test is not as important as the students who take it.

***end of rant***

So, I should really get back to working on my lesson plans. They’re due by 8:00 on Monday and I would hate to not have the TEKS written in. Bah.

Best of luck to all of my teacher/student/administrator friends this week! To those of you who don’t fall in these categories, please take a moment to pray for the rest of us!!!