Muunday, Muuunday, Ahhh, Ahhhhhhhhh

Back to the grind once again! I wasn't thrilled to be waking up BEFORE the crack of dawn, but I was grateful for the hour and a half of complete quietness in the school, and in my classroom, before the kids arrived. There is always such an intense awareness of how much I have to prepare and get done before school, or after school if I'm still coherent, but once my students are there, it's like I'm in another world. A world in which the desks are short, the chairs are teeny, the questions are constant, and the day takes off much like a rollercoaster, only this ride lasts about 8 hours, with no breaks, no down time, and very restricted adult conversation. It's complete with screaming, like the rollercoaster, excitement, and about 20 little sponges that soak up every morsel of smartness that I bring to that classroom.

Teaching multi-age is amazing. I did it for 4 short months when I student taught back in '02. But as a student teacher, you don't absorb what the whole job entails. Student teaching is just a tip off the iceberg, really. But now that I'm teaching my own multi-age class, zillions of things are flooding my mind...mostly things that my mentor taught me 4 years ago about multi-age. The kids are really learning from each other, and by that, I mean, the first graders are looking at the second graders thinking, "I want to do that too." The big kids are looking at the adorable little kids and want to help them, and I've noticed that this helps the big kids' mental math strategies because they are constantly explaining things out loud to the little kids. I'm having those "Ah Hah!" moments EVERY DAY. Can you handle that?

I know I've said it before, but last year was ruthless. Almost wanted to give up. But this year is SO making up for all of that. This is the best thing I have done as a teacher. I am growing and learning as much, if not MORE, than my kids. And they are just precious. I wish I could share their pictures with you, internet!

This is me, on my way to the first day of school on Sept. 5th. Keep in mind that it's VERY early and I haven't had that coffee yet. Can you see the big crate of "goodies" in the backseat?