Back in the saddle again

Yesterday started another year of teaching for me. And it wouldn't be normal if there was not at least one challenge to my first day back. It was a little crazy getting my first period started and then leaving to drop Naomi off and then coming back to end the period. Good thing Naomi's school is so close to mine. But that was nothing compared to a little later on in the day. This year due to my program growing so big and budget cutbacks in our district. I teach 6 out of the 7 periods in our school day. And it so happens that my planning period is the last period of the day. So my only saving grace from teaching 6 periods back to back is my lunch. This year according to the master schedule I was supposed to have A lunch, which is more like brunch since it is at 10 in the morning. But I was ok with that because it would break up my classes. I would teach 3 have lunch and then teach 3 more. So after my 3rd period yesterday, I went into my back room and put my food in the microwave. Then I headed back to the bathroom via my classroom. As I started to walk through my classroom, I noticed that I had students walking into my class. I was quite startled and told them they were a little early that this was my lunch. At which point they corrected me and said that no they had class right now. And sure enough according to their schedule they did. So I pointed them to the seating chart, ran to the bathroom and then came back to start class. While they were doing their first assignment, I had to run and put my lunch back in the fridge. And then I called the scheduling principal to find out when my actual lunch is, which is C lunch. C lunch is definitely not brunch but it makes for a really long day. Basically I now teach 5 classes have a 30 minute lunch and then teach one more class before I have my planning period. Wow, it is only the second day today and I am already exhausted!!!

First Day of First Grade

Yesterday was Naomi's first day of first grade. She is so excited for school this year. I think she had everything ready to go at least four days before school started. She has a really sweet teacher. And her best friend from last year, Nicole, is in her class again this year. Nicole's mom and I were both relieved to see that they were in the same class again.

On Sunday, we decided to put Naomi's hair in curlers. But alas... that lasted until midnight when she realized that curlers are just too uncomfortable to sleep with. I have to agree with her. I can still remember the difficulty I have had trying to fall asleep with curlers in my hair. (Hmm... is that why you see little old ladies wandering around the stores with curlers in their hair during the daytime?) I was able to get one of my teacher friends to cover the first part of my first period so that I could bring Naomi to her class for her first day. I did a quick drop-off, took a couple quick pictures and left. When she got off the bus in the afternoon, she was all smiles. She loved her first day. Here are the pictures of preparing for and her first day. (It is amazing to compare her first day pictures from this year to her first day pictures from last year!!)

Naomi in her curlers that lasted till midnight
Naomi at her desk

Naomi and in the row behind her, her best friend Nicole

Naomi's First Day of School

Naomi started Kindergarten this past Monday. I was lucky enough to get someone to cover my 1st period class that day so David and I could bring Naomi to her first day of school. Our plan of attack was to go to my school first to make sure my sub showed up and then bring Naomi to school. When we woke her up, she was super excited to start school. However, the closer we got to my school the quieter she got. In fact, on the way to my classroom she walked with her eyes closed the whole way. By the time we got to her school she was in tears. She had settled down a little bit when we got to her classroom but was still very quiet and shy. But she started to cry again when we went to put her name tag on. She absolutely refused to wear the name tag. After we took off the name tag, she calmed down and we were able to take a picture. (She still looked sad but hey it was a picture.) Fast forward 7 hours later and we had a totally different kid. Naomi was all smiles and loved her first day of Kindergarten. (PS: Just in case you couldn't figure it out she is in all day Kindergarten.)

Before school: Naomi in the courtyard before we brought her to class
Naomi sitting at her desk

After School:

All smiles now. She absolutely loves school