For the past three years, I've felt a little lost in August. For the majority of my life, this time of the year meant great change, excitement, nervousness, and transition. From the age of four all the way to the age of twenty-seven, August meant starting a new school year, either as a student or as a teacher- and for two years while getting my Masters it was both! It's been just recently that I have been away from the beginning of the school year frenzy that was my norm for so many years.
While I have always been filled with anxiety right before the first day of school- ask my mom how well I handled the first day of kindergarten! :) - I have to say that starting as the student is a whole lot less scary than starting as the teacher! Starting a new school year as a teacher is such an overwhelming task!
The days before the school year began each year, I would check and recheck and recheck everything- trying to get every last detail in perfect order. My good friend June and I were notorious for rearranging our rooms dozens of times, trying to get everything just right. I would fret about schedules, memorize names, shop up a storm for new decorations and supplies for my classroom, pick the perfect books to be my first read-alouds of the school year, send postcards to all of my new students welcoming them to third grade, spend much, much more time preparing my back-to-school night presentation for the parents than was probably necessary, shop for a new outfit for the first day....the list goes on and on.
You probably wouldn't think that I would miss all of this preparation and stress, but I really, really do. As August hits each year and I think about all of the wonderful teachers that I know heading back to work and gearing up for the new school year, I feel such a pang of longing to be participating.
Don't get me wrong, I love being at home full-time. I am so thankful that we are able to somehow make things work on Ben's salary alone for a few years so that I can spend this time with Gracie and Luke (and the new little guy). But I loved teaching, and I can't wait until the time when I can get back to it. I miss my days as Mrs. Hedenberg, third grade teacher in Room 113, the most each year when I am especially aware of what I'm missing.
Leading me to my question for the week-
In honor of the many teachers I know and love- What beginning-of-the-year, teacher, or grade sticks out in your mind as being especially memorable? Why?
While I have always been filled with anxiety right before the first day of school- ask my mom how well I handled the first day of kindergarten! :) - I have to say that starting as the student is a whole lot less scary than starting as the teacher! Starting a new school year as a teacher is such an overwhelming task!
The days before the school year began each year, I would check and recheck and recheck everything- trying to get every last detail in perfect order. My good friend June and I were notorious for rearranging our rooms dozens of times, trying to get everything just right. I would fret about schedules, memorize names, shop up a storm for new decorations and supplies for my classroom, pick the perfect books to be my first read-alouds of the school year, send postcards to all of my new students welcoming them to third grade, spend much, much more time preparing my back-to-school night presentation for the parents than was probably necessary, shop for a new outfit for the first day....the list goes on and on.
You probably wouldn't think that I would miss all of this preparation and stress, but I really, really do. As August hits each year and I think about all of the wonderful teachers that I know heading back to work and gearing up for the new school year, I feel such a pang of longing to be participating.
Don't get me wrong, I love being at home full-time. I am so thankful that we are able to somehow make things work on Ben's salary alone for a few years so that I can spend this time with Gracie and Luke (and the new little guy). But I loved teaching, and I can't wait until the time when I can get back to it. I miss my days as Mrs. Hedenberg, third grade teacher in Room 113, the most each year when I am especially aware of what I'm missing.
Leading me to my question for the week-
In honor of the many teachers I know and love- What beginning-of-the-year, teacher, or grade sticks out in your mind as being especially memorable? Why?
Comments
I also loved my school supplies! there is nothing like a fresh pink rubber erasure, fresh box of crayons and unsharpened pencils in my pencil box. Remember those old pencil boxes that looked like cigar boxes.
Later it was trapper keepers, mechanical pencils, and spiral notebooks. I still love office supplies.
I don't have any grade school, junior high or high school teachers that particularlly stick out (sad I know). I loved Mr Westfall at roosevelt and mrs mathews at MaCarthur (although she is the one that nominated Ware for that award so that may be misplaced) but I don't know how influential they were. I had a couple of College professors that probably had the most influence.
That first day was easily the longest day of my life, but also one of the most exciting. When I finally walked the students out to the parking lot at the end of the day, I came back to my room and put my head down on my desk for a good ten minutes. I left school to get a chai and came back and worked in my room until the janitors left that night at ten.
Ben didn't see much of me for about a month that year; he even began bringing me sandwiches at school for dinner and helping out in any way that he could. I know it probably doesn't sound it, but it was a really exciting time in my life.
Even though my kids and students probably wouldn't agree, the start of the school year is much more stressful for teachers...I'm already having stress dreams! I'm teaching all Soph English this year (two co-taught gen ed and two self-contained spec ed classes) and I'm really excited about the curriculum but it's all new to me and I have to look like I know what I'm doing!!
At home, I have one starting college (stessing), one starting middle school (really stressing) and a soon-to-be-4th-grader who honestly cannot wait to get back in class next week.
My favorite teacher was Sr. Mary Owen, my wonderful 1st grade teacher. She was young, funny, really, really tall, and a Dominican nun! Even though she made me move my desk one time for talking (hard to believe, I know) she made school so fun and exciting. I'm smiling just thinking about her.
My first two years at school were tough - kindergarten started fine, I remember loving it. I got sick in December and it took the doctor a long time to figure out that I had mono. I know that my Mom, always sure that we had a fatal illness, REALLY thought that I had one. So I spent December to May home with my hovering, worried Mom. Hardly a confidence building year.
First grade was at St. Patrick's school with the antithesis of Barb's first grade teacher. Mother Mary Michael was a stern Ursuline nun who had no time for a scared 6 year old. I cried every morning.
I remember telling her that I would be going to 2nd grade at a new school being built by my house. She said "It won't be done in time - you'll be back here." I didn't say anything, but I was thinking, "Just watch me, bitch!" or the 6 year old equivalent.
I was so happy to go to Holy Family! I could walk to school, come home for lunch and my cousin Sally and my best friend Johnny were in my class. My teacher, who I now know couldn't have been more than 21 (you didn't have to have your degree to teach in Catholic school back then) was beautiful and smelled wonderful. Her name was Kay Callahan and she made school exciting. We studied fractions by cutting up candy bars and we did lots of fun art projects.
I had gotten good marks in first grade - we got letter grades back then - but the experience had made me fearful. Miss Callahan gave me my confidence back and convinced me that school was a place I liked and that I was smart.
Good teachers can turn your life around and it can take years to recover from a bad one. I saw Kay Callahan's name and address in an alumni directory for St. Teresa and I wish I had written and thanked her for my second grade year.
One of my favortie teachers was Mr Williams. He was very open and had interesting talks with my home room class when I was in 7th grade and convinced me not to quit the basketball team my senior year. He didn't inspire me to learn but was a good influence in terms of social stuff.
I also really liked Mrs May from MacArthur. She was the first person to make literature interesting and she nominated me for an award as well. That's always nice. Grade school teachers didn't do that much for me. I think some of that was because the quality (or lack there of) at St. Thomas.
I'm sure she is looking up at you and smiling right now Bryan!
I don't think she is dead yet. She must not have been nearly as old as we thought when we were young, because she seemed like she was on the edge of death then. The Grace UM church bulliten shows that she was a usher as recently as August.
My bottle of Dom Perion (sp?) is still on ice and ready to be popped open at the first word of it.