Back to School, Chica.

There is nothing like the excitement that the new school year can bring.  There's this giddiness that I feel ever single year, as I anticipate the new group of kids that I'm about to meet.  Each year, without fail, I have the same nightmare--and let me tell you it's a doozy.  My dream consists of me walking into my 7th grade classroom only to be met by a group of kindergarten students.  I mean, oh HELL no!  Panic sets into my chest as I try to figure out what the heck I'm going to do with them.  In this nightmare there are tears (from them), really crappy teaching strategies (from me), and I'm always lining them up in the hall making them hold hands.  After the first ten minutes, I've run out of ideas.  I always wake up as I'm attempting to teach them "1 + 1 = 2".  Just a nightmare.

I started getting the nightmare again last week, knowing that I'd soon get my classroom again.  For those of you that don't know, I've had a student teacher for the last couple of months.  He's now merrily on his way, in hopes of securing a teaching position down the road.  So on Monday night, as I scoured over my planner (I did get planned out for the next 9 weeks), I knew there would be no way I'd fall asleep.  And I didn't--even after taking a Tylenol PM.  Yeah, not even that worked.

Monday morning I was wide-eyed and bushy-tailed at 4 am.  I got a whopping 4 hours of sleep.  Knowing there was no way I'd get back to sleep, I got up and took a nice, long shower.  By 6 am the dog was fed, dinner in the crockpot, kids up, and I decided to head on out the door.  I was at school 10 minutes later--wishing the kids were there.  But no, they wouldn't be arriving for another 1 1/2 hours.  I was a bit anxious to get there...  I wrote my agenda on the board, prepared their handouts, and sat at my desk to wait.  And wait.  And wait.  By 7 am, a couple of my colleagues had arrived--I grabbed another cup of joe and waited some more.

FINALLY, after what seemed like an eternity, my students began to arrive.  I couldn't understand why their excitement level wasn't at the same as mine.  I was giddy, excited, couldn't stop smiling--practically singing my way through the day's lessons.

What can I say?  I love my job.  I love my students.  I love what I do every single day.  And I missed it so much when I had to let go and have my student teacher take over.  Last night I got ready for bed, was absolutely exhausted, and still could not fall asleep.  This morning I found myself, once again, at work before the sun even thought about coming out.  And I waited at my desk for my room to fill with the sounds that only 12-years-old can make.  It's bliss--absolute bliss.

So tonight, as I'm sitting here watching my daughter cheer and typing away on my MAC, I'm hoping that I get some sleep tonight--although tomorrow's lesson IS friggin' awesome and I'm so excited to teach it that I'm afraid I'll once again be tossing and turning, just waiting for the morning to arrive.