My Early Years of Teaching in the 242

It was my first day teaching. I went to the school bright and early at 7:30 a.m. because it was nearby, with my briefcase loaded with papers and my brain full of ideas. The principal was already there; he lived in the school yard. He showed me my classroom and I headed the board and sat at my desk eagerly awaiting the arrival of my students. The bell rang at 9:00 a.m. and my students filed into the classroom and stood behind their desks. But something was wrong; I saw some big children and then I saw some little ones. Something was definitely wrong; I was not trained to teach little children.
“Be seated,” I blurted out and I immediately headed for the principal’s classroom. His students were all about the same size and age.
“Why am I teaching little children?” I earnestly enquired of him.
“I am not trained to teach them,” I said.
The principal then told me that I had to teach grades one to six because that was the arrangement. He said that he knew that I was good in mathematics so he would switch with me in the afternoons so that I could teach that subject to grades 7, 8 and 9. This comforted me a little and so I returned to my classroom and sat down dazed. All of the children were staring straight at me as if to say ,
“Come on Mr. Thompson get with the program and start to teach us.”
I was completely lost, confused and depressed. Reluctantly I took the register and then I placed some basic mathematics problems on the chalkboard to test them. Immediately a little student raised her hand and said,
“We don’t know how to do those things Mr. Thompson.”
I swiftly countered,
“Then write your numbers from one to twenty in your books grades one and two.”
My first day on the job had started and I knew I had to adapt fast to teaching 25 students from grades one to six in one classroom. None of my college training had ever prepared me for this.