I think that the first week of school is always kind of awkward.

Teachers don’t really know their students yet, so in order to get to know the new kids, the teachers don’t get a chance to teach the new students much. And it’s the time to start team-building in classes, set the tone for the year, set the expectations of the year, etc.

This year feels more like my first, maybe even a little more complex and difficult, because the school is so new, everyone, teachers AND students, are new. We are all trying to figure out the expectations of the administration, of each other, etc. It’s not bad, but it’s just different. Established schools have established teachers, admin, supplies, expectations, etc. We are missing several supplies (which isn’t good when you ordered 120 copies of The Outsiders and only 40 are in, and 4 different teachers need to use it in the next 4 weeks). We didn’t even get copy codes until a couple of days before school started, so that was kind of crazy to try and get copies started up for the first couple of days.

Despite all the stress of the newness of everything, it was a good first week. The students are awesome, and I love how the demographics of the classroom have changed, become more diverse. That always leads to deeper, more thoughtful, classroom discussions of topics and helps the kids help each other. Truly, most of my kids are going to be fantastic, and I’m excited to see what the year will bring!

All the staff is happy to be there, and despite initial confusion of what Admin wants, we really enjoy our new principal and admin team. Everyone is making a bigger effort to make this school be a better place, a happier place. Many of us came from my last school, and everyone I know that was there previously seems so much happier here. It’s a fascinating thing to watch the transition of some of these people I’ve known for the past two years in this new environment.

To conclude, what it it all boils down to is this: This year has the potential of being the most incredible year yet.