A sea of emotions: The 1st day of school.

It is 4 PM and I am sitting at my desk. Looking out over my classroom and pondering the past two days. I am walking through all the little moments that have occurred over the past two days with a sea of emotion. The beginning of the year is always an exciting time full of new beginnings and promise. Teachers eagerly welcome their new students and kids look forward to seeing old friends and making that move to a higher grade. The start of the year is always a favourite for me.

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This year is especially meaningful to me. I have now been teaching at my current school for ten years. During my first 6 years, I taught a little bit of everything. I spent time working with Spec. Ed students, time working as an English to French Immersion teacher and even a couple years as a grade 2 homeroom teacher. I truly enjoyed my time in each of these roles but found my true calling 4 years ago when I started teaching grade 8. We had a position open up for the following year in the intermediate division and nobody else on staff was interested in teaching a grade 8 class. I jumped at the opportunity and have never looked back.

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Back to why this year is so meaningful. Over my years of teaching grade 8 so far, I have taught many students who I have worked with before. There have been lots of students who I taught a subject too here or there. Most of them have been my ETFI students who I taught when they were in grade 3 and 4. This year my grade 8 class is a group of students who I am very familiar with. They are the first class I taught when I was teaching grade 2. I worked with these kids 6 years ago and built relationships and connections with them. Now, I get to reconnect with them 6 years later in their final year before they head off to high school. Such a cool experience for me.

Yesterday started the same as the first day every year. Many teachers were in the school very early and running around getting last minute preparations done. I was there at 7 AM, two hours before the students arrived. At 8:45 all the teachers made their way outside to their designated area to meet their classes. With over 1000 students at our school and many accompanied by a parent or two, you can imagine just how packed the schoolyard and sports field were. This is always an easier process for us grade 8 teachers since our students are older and fewer parents accompany them on the first day.

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My students were filled with a mix of excitement and anxiety as they stood there, about to embark on their last adventure at our school. They were now at the top of the mountain and the oldest kids in our school. They have spent so many years watching and looking up to the grade 8 students in the school and now they get to be in that position. This is a year they will remember. Most had suspected that I would be their teacher since I have been teaching grade 8 for several years now but it was great to see the smiles on their faces as they arrived and shared how excited they were to be in grade 8 and be back with their grade 2 teacher again. I even had one student who asked if I remembered him. Highly entertaining, especially since he is a student that you wouldn’t easily forget.

We make our way inside and start getting a little better acquainted. Or should I say reacquainted? The first day is a day that is typically used to get through some of the "first day" of school formalities as we discuss timetables and expectations. It is also a day to start some team building exercises and have a little fun with the kids as they find their comfort zone. We played a variety of icebreakers and fun little games to get people settled in. One of my favourites and something that I have done for a while is a simple adjective game where the kids need to come up with an adjective that describes them. A simple task on the surface but there is one little rule that can sometimes make it a little more challenging. The adjective must start with the same letter as your first name starts with. It is fun to hear some of the creative ways they create adjectives to describe themselves.

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By the end of the first day, my head is spinning and I am deeply satisfied. After the long break, this teacher is back doing what he loves and I have a feeling that I have a good year ahead. I know that there are some challenges in my class but there always are. I don’t think I have ever had a class where everything was smooth and simple. In fact, I am not sure that even exists in the teaching profession. It is amazing how quickly kids can reveal themselves and without even knowing, show you exactly who they are on the first day. I am looking forward to working with these kids again. I know I said that they were the ones embarking on a new journey full of adventure but realistically, I am part of that same journey. Every single year is a new adventure and this ship just set sail. I can’t wait to see where it takes us.