First Day

The first day is done. It went by like a blur. And, true to my desire to continue to learn from writing as inquiry, I’m taking a few minutes to write out my thoughts and debrief my mind from a very busy day.

It was a great day. As a mother, I was lucky enough to get a hug from both of my children before I let them out the back door of my classroom to go find their line-ups. They are both attending classrooms that are located in the same hallway as me. Last year I worried about separating that teacher/mom identity while teaching at a school my children attend. This year I am enjoying it. It’s still a line I am careful to always respect and honour for everyone’s sake, but it’s lovely to see them more, drive to and from school with them, be more involved in their education, never miss a school performance and make that extra connection with their friends.

As a teacher, I spent the day with 27 people in a blur of activity. I have, at this point, 26 grade five students and one STA for added support. I have yet another class (I had one like this last year too) with a ratio of two boys for every girl and many athletic children in general. Note to self: bring running shoes. I also know there are many who really enjoy art. And their creative, I can see that already.

I made sure that in the short time we had today that there was time for quiet, time to talk, time to write, time to read, time to draw and time to run. I also gave them choices and asked them to tell me what they want to learn this year. I watched and listened and took notes. I’m learning them. I’ll learn them all year.

And what will they learn? Well, certainly more than math, science, art, and other subject areas, which, the longer I teach, the more blurred they become. I’m quite certain they’ll learn how to get along with others, they’ll learn more about the person they are and the person they are becoming and they’ll learn what they’re passionate about in life. They’ll learn that learning can be fun, and quiet, and independent, and noisy, and cooperative, and intense, and playful, and physical. They’ll learn me, and each other, and the STA and the class pet. They’ll learn themselves.

I guess that’s a little bit of a goal statement coming into being. We’ll see how things go…

2 thoughts on “First Day

  1. I just spent 2 years in China with my wife & daughters at the same school as me. My youngest wanted to hug me every time she saw me and that was a bit awkward at first, but she soon found it ‘fun’ to call me ‘Mr. Truss’ at school. It was a great adventure and I’m missing having them with me this year.

    LOVE your last paragraph… all the things important about schooling that you tend not to see in curriculum guides yet all the things you want to see in a school.

    Your students are lucky to have you on this year’s adventure! 🙂

  2. Hi Dave,
    An adventure it surely will be – by the end of the week my class had increased to 29 students as three more students, boys from grade four, were transferred in! It’s going to be a busy, challenging year!

    Thank you for what you said about my last paragraph. I have always taught with the whole child in mind, but since finishing my Masters degree in the summer, the larger, overarching themes are the ones that are at the forefront of my mind. I’m still trying to figure out how to teach with the new philosophies I have achieved from the coursework, but I am excited to see how it all unfolds as the year moves along!

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