The day of all days.

Tomorrow is the first day of school. I'm slightly anxious, but confident. The day will go by just fine, but that doesn't mean my nerves will be working overtime.

"Will the kids be comfortable in my classroom?"
"Will I establish a respectful and conducive learning environment?"
"Will I earn respect the first week? And if I don't, how will I make it through the year?"

I have been having bad dreams the past two weeks. One was where there kids didn't listen to me no matter how firm I was (this was after I watched Freedom Writers... bad idea right before bed). The next dealt with having 30 more kids added to my class roster. Last night's was being tested by my students to see if I remained consistent (and I DID!).

After tomorrow, everything will be fine. I will have made it through my first day of school as a teacher.

I was going to do a soapbox on the stereotype of the Southern Teacher... but then I talked to a few other teacher friends... and they said these circumstances didn't happen to them... so it's purely a Chelsea-stance. Let's just say, if one more person asks me what my maiden name is or what my husband does, I may just about lose my apples. I will ironically point out that Miss P and I are the only young, unmarried women at our school, really. Welcome home to the South where in certain circles you can be judged by your marital status.

Now onto brighter things. All of last week consisted of my organizing and prepping the classroom. I've also been getting to know the other 2nd grade teachers... and they are pretty wonderful. There are three others... and I think we're going to have a good year. :) The tentative lesson plans and homework sheets are already finished/planned. We've got code motions for when the higher-ups come by, etc. Our team leader is a trip, too... I really like her. She's been at the school for 20+ years, and she currently lives right around the corner from me!

And finally, here are some photos of my classroom... it's a peek at what an open classroom looks like.





And let the school year begin.
- Miss Chelsea :)