It is a New School Year!

 

Regardless if your school year has just begun or will be starting soon, we all share something in common. As teachers, we all have a first, first day. Do you remember it? I remember mine quite clearly. I felt nervous. I felt excited. I had been preparing my classroom for a week and it felt so special to walk into that space that I had prepared for a group of children I had yet to meet. Wow, that first day did not roll out as I had thought it would! As they rarely do!

This year has the potential to be a bright new beginning for you in the classroom. Speaking from my own experience, at some point there became a moment when I almost dreaded the first day of school. Not because I couldn't handle it, but something felt missing.This was my moment of realizing that I had lost sight of what I dearly loved about being in the classroom. Those first days of school can be challenging! Depending on if we're starting a brand new classroom with all new children or if we are returning to 3/4 of a group and 1/4 coming in for the first time, rarely will you have enough hands to dry the eyes, give hugs of support, and hold the hands of those children having the hardest time separating from their caregivers for the first time.

As you start your school year, knowing that perhaps the first days can be challenging, I want you to reconnect with what brings you joy in the work that you do. Is it the voices? Is it the sound of the musical bells in the background? Is it the, “Guess what!” that you know is coming from that one particular returning child? Is it the smiles or perhaps could it be watching the small hands find something that brings them joy? Whatever it is, connect with it to start your year. And come back to it every single month. Write it on your calendar on the first school day of the month so you don't forget because it is easy to in the day-to-day serving children in the most special school environment that exists.