At first I had this "I'm subbing for this new class" feeling, where they didn't really belong to me. I would walk past my students from last year in the hallway, standing outside of their new classrooms, and I would want to gather them up. Tucking them into my pocket, I could carry them with me into the new year. This must be why some teachers loop with their class.
This is a big transition year for me, not because I'm changing grades or anything, but because I moved out of my current classroom on top of the whole "who are these little kids in my classroom" thing. My school is growing. Seriously growing. Our population is up, as well as our teaching staff. More people everywhere! So, in order to accommodate our growth, we had to spread out into EVEN MORE trailers. We have singles, doubles, quads, and mods. Oh, my! My adventure began when I volunteered to move out of the Modular building (10 classrooms and an office, bathrooms, and workroom) into a new Quad (bare bones, brand new!, 4 classrooms).
After a rough start, we are getting settled in nicely, the Strangers and I. There are still some kinks to work out, but for the most part we are making our transition to the new building very nicely. I have to say, the biggest downfall is the lack of a restroom nearby. A bathroom break for a pair of students takes a minimum of 8 minutes. Add up all of those emergencies, and that's a lot of time lost. That's our biggest ripple right now... but we're working through it.
As for my new group, well, I will reserve my comments on most until I get to know them a bit more. I have some wonderful students, I can see that already.
The one student I will mention is new to our school. She is so sweet, her face, her demeanor, and her voice. She moved to the US just a short year and a half ago with her mother and 3 siblings. In speaking with her today, I found out that they came to the US "to study," as she puts it. In the last year and a half she has made incredible progress, learning English for the first time, and even learning some Spanish as well. She spoke with me today about her mother, and how hard her mother worked to teach the children about the US, reading, writing, and speaking. I can not wait to meet her mother at parent orientation. And I have to come up with a nickname for this one, as I can already tell that I will be sharing about her frequently.
Stay tuned for Season Two!
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