three days in and i've already hit the floor

ah yes, the first week of school is currently upon us. i was mentally ready to start school this year but physically nowhere near as ready as i was last year, my first year. strangely, i was not stressed or nervous at all, even when i arrived monday morning to find that the student desks had NOT been delivered to my empty classroom as promised. since my classrooms, yes rooms, are located in a brand new wing of the school, some things were overlooked. you know, insignificant extras like desks, keys to our rooms, trash cans. things you never use anyway, right? if there's one thing i've learned about working in education, it's the art of improvisation. instead of getting upset, i marched my students to the cafeteria to grab their own chairs in which to sit, and i didn't even get too upset when the maintenance crew insisted on shoving the desks into my room DURING my first class. "we was told to keep 'em moving" they said when i asked them to come back later. fine. you win. i just want furniture.

on that same note, because the school opened several new halls this year, most of the hallways were re-lettered. monday morning, map in hand, i was ready to help the poor souls find their english and algebra classes with an encouraging smile and a confident point in the right direction. after all, i'm a teacher so i am an expert in this, right? i was doing really well telling the timid little ones where to find the new 'j' and 'k' halls, because those were both unfamiliar halls to all students (and most teachers for that matter). then a kid came up and asked me where 'd' hall was. i had yet to have that request so i paused for a second. and blanked out completely. all i could come up with was "i...uh....don't..hmmm..." and started looking around for assistance. i am not sure why i also forgot i was holding a map. that must have been part of the blank-out. luckily (or unluckily for my sake) an administrator was standing nearby and overheard the request. "right here," he said to the student. suddenly i snapped back into consciousness and recalled that not only was i standing in 'd' hall, but that both of my classrooms are located in said hall. when i make a blunder, i make it count. i decided after that episode to call it quits on hallway cop for the day and shuffled the ten yards back to my classroom.

in 'd' hall.

the first day of school is always monotonously exhausting. a typical class consists of introducing myself in front of a captive audience (on the first day the kids are the most quiet that they will ever be all year), introducing the course, handing out the syllabus, going over the syllabus, going over the laws of the land, and then finishing up with a cheesy 'get-to-know-you' game. the reason for this game is two-fold: to help me learn names and to fill up the rest of the period. this year i chose the game 'two truths and a lie' to play with my classes. the rules of the game are quite simple: the students stand up one at a time and tell two true things and one lie (about themselves) and the rest of the class tries to guess which one is the lie. genius, i thought. it would take up a lot of time, i'd learn names, and we'd learn a thing or two about each other. i didn't worry too much about the content of the shared information because the majority of students (save that socially inept handful that don't have filters between their brains and mouths) are pretty reserved that first day.

i was right. the first day was pretty tame. i learned that one of my students is related to elton john and that sir john is "not very nice." i learned that one of my kids is lance armstong's god daughter. another is family friends with eddie van halen's brother, and knows the lead singer for the band system of a down. one girl regularly swims at a member of led zepplin's house. of course you always have those outrageous lies that are easy to spot: "i'm a raging alcoholic and crack addict." i told him that better be his lie or i'd probably have to report it. luckily it was (and i'm going to believe it). that was probably the worst the game got the first day.

day two was a slightly different story. i had a new group of kids as well, but like us teachers, they get tired of the same old syllabus song and dance. the kids were more daring, more open. i learned a lot more about this round of students. my first 'b' day class stood out especially among the throngs of two-truths-and-a-liers. one student that i actually had for a while last year but left school for some unknown reason stood up in front of the class and delivered his first two statements: "uhhhh, i've been stabbed several times......i spent 10 months in a correctional facility......and i can't think of a lie." great. that's comforting. i looked around at the other students who had likewise checked for my reaction and saw a mixture of fear and 'tell me he's kidding' in several of the babies' eyes. ahem, moving right along. in my most upbeat breezy voice, i called on the girl next to him. please redeem this, i silently begged. she stood up and thought for a moment before sharing with us her three clues: "i was born in amarillo.....i'm pregnant.....and i have been to italy." what?! ok, i'm out. i am not even trying. this time it was me looking around for help, hoping someone would speak up. several of them shifted uneasily in their chairs, especially after seeing me do the same thing. finally one of those filterless kids yelled out "hey! you haven't been to italy!" as i silently prayed 'please let her have been to italy.' but my prayer was not answered. "that's right," she said and sat down. ok, so she's with child, and she just announced it to the entire class. what do i do? well, i did the only thing i thought i could do. i awkwardly congratulated her and again quickly moved on to the next person, but inside i was reeling. i sighed with relief when the bell (or more like door chimes this year) sounded to end that class.

another entertaining item of business reserved for the first few days of school is the roll call. i generally preface roll call with an advance apology for name butchering and direct them to correct me if needed. and i usually need correcting; that's normal. but yesterday, something odd happened during roll call that is not normal. i was running down my list of names (which are divided by grade level on the roster) and in the middle of the freshmen i called out "nicholas anderson?" (*name changed for privacy). instead of a usual confident "here!" i heard two confused ones. i looked up to see two boys with their hands raised looking from me to each other with quizzical looks on their faces. just as confused, i scanned my roster to find that i had two kids with the exact same name, one grade apart. what are the odds? clearly they didn't know each other either, but quickly began to battle with each other for who would be called the shorter version of their name (nick vs. nicholas). after i made the executive decision to let the older one go by nick, the younger one took matters into his own hands and insisted that he too would be called 'nick' but spell it 'n-i-c.' so verbally we have to say 'nick, no k' and 'nick, with k.' the things i do for these kids.

really, it's the least i can do. these children have no idea how special they are to me, especially the ones i've known for a year now. i am confident that i will be able to build some wonderful relationships with this new batch of children as well. they are the reason i am able to get through my days. they are the reason i smile as i walk through the school. the precious girl that came up to visit me not once, but twice during my work week (and her last week of freedom), and was just content to sit with me as i ran around doing odd jobs and worked on my room, and now comes to visit me every day after school for at least half an hour. or the former student that tried to get me to eat my lunch at his table today so we could catch up on our summers (but i couldn't) so he came in after school just to hang out and talk about his future (and my personal life - he wishes). or the sweetheart that brought me blueberry pancakes and a big hug this morning 'just because.' or one of my kiddos from last year that broke away from his group of friends to cross over the continuous stream of hallway traffic and chase me down for a hug, proclaiming 'i have been looking for you everywhere!' there is nothing quite like the relationship between a high school student and an educator. we potentially wear so many hats for these kids: educator, mentor, role model, friend (when appropriate) and sometimes even big sister/brother/parent (also when appropriate). it's such an amazing thing when you realize you have actually made a positive impact on someone and see the fruits of your 'labor' manifest themselves even in the most seemingly insignificant of ways. but none of them are insignificant. not to me.

on a lighter, less syrupy note, i am generally pretty coordinated. i can dig a volleyball, return a ping pong ball, shoot a basketball, catch a softball, and occasionally hit a golf ball successfully. standing, apparently, is a different story. today i clothed myself in some rather tall, but surprisingly comfortable, wedge sandals. i have worn these stylish things for years and have had few problems with them. today in my marketing class, i was standing at the front of the room, monitoring the students as they diligently worked on an assignment. the key word here is standing. i was not walking; nothing was in my way. all of a sudden my ankle rolled for no reason. normally that wouldn't be a big deal. it would be a little awkward and uncomfortable, but nothing more. rolling an ankle on a three-inch wedge, however, leaves little room for salvation. one second i was up, the next i had crumpled to the floor. all the way. bum on tile, feet splayed outward. being the second day of school, the students didn't know how to react. is she hurt? did she faint? where'd she go? trying to shake the embarrassment the best way i knew how, i laughed heartily (thereby encouraging them to join in) and proclaimed that i would just stick down there for a while since i had made the trip (or rather, the drop). i do make it a point to warn all of my students the first day of school that i am somewhat clumsy and that they should be ready. i just don't think they expected (nor i) to experience said klutziness on day two. after spending a minute or so with the tile floor i decided to rejoin the professional side of teaching and stand up again. at least i got the promised spill out of the way the first week.

of course tomorrow's another day. i am looking forward to the humor it promises to bring. and hopefully it will bring my new classrooms' much-needed trash cans with it.

next-day edit: my trash cans arrived (finally!) and i'm wearing flats.