first day of school

The weird thing about coming back is that after about five minutes it seems that I haven't been gone at all. The same problems, the broken internet, the same grumpy people, the same mess. I had this fantasy that while I was away, little brownies were going to come out of the woodwork and take care of all my problems, and make everyone automatically happy. Not so.

On the flip side, I am really excited about all my new students! They were all very nice and patient with the craziness that comes with the chaos of the first day. I had to scrap all of my original plans when I realized half the computers had frozen and the internet was completely down. My alternative plan was pretty lame, but no one complained. When both the principal and the vice principal made their unannounced visits, all the little punks were deeply engaged in typing exercises. I got a lecture this morning from the VP that the parents were complaining about how I didn't teach them word-processing last year. Which is rather a ridiculous complaint, Word is a boringly straightforward program, and not my idea of fun. I looked good, even though I really didn't deserve it.

A crowd of parents came to the sixth grade orientation to support their children. I almost cried when the principal dismissed them and told them that the time for good-byes was over. They left very slowly.

One of the writing/drawing prompts I gave them was "What is your favorite thing about fall." One boy wrote, "eating apples," I heartily agree.