Out of the pan and into the fire...

Students arrived last week...I went to bed Sunday night without any problems, slept well, and woke up bright and early to be at school at 7:10 for my assigned duty. Strangely enough, I still didn't have that sick feeling in my stomach that so many people talked about. For some reason I felt calm despite knowing that I hadn't been inside a high school during the regular school year since I graduated in 1998. Then we went to first period...

First off, I'm glad that over the summer we were advised to have lots of activites ready for the students to do...Like we were warned, they held homeroom for most of the morning...luckily I was prepared. First period is my best period...they are mostly upperclassmen and know what's going on. However, it's all downhill from there. 2nd period is a train wreck. They are mostly freshmen...Was I like this as a freshman? I really need to call up some of my teachers and ask. Sorry for the distraction...Speaking of distractions, I have an average of like 26 students in each class...not too bad, but considering I only have 17 desks, it causes a problem. The first day we went old school and did it Kindergarten-style. Sitting in a circle on the floor. Wasn't too bad, other than the fact that the kids were all lookin' at me like I was some sort of crack-head. That's ok, at least they know that I'm different than the rest of the teachers.