Looks of confusion..

I just started back to teaching today! It was an interesting day for a multitude of reasons. I spent the day before putting all of my supplies back in their cabinets. I had completely gutted out my room's art supplies in order to FINALLY assemble everything in it's proper location. It was in shambles. There were watercolors in too many places to count.. it took me a full two days, but I was able to get my room student ready just in time. However, I had no time to copy-edit my syllabai for each course and copy all of the papers for the opening day. So this morning I awoke with ample time to get to school and get everything copied before 1st period. One of my favorite parts of opening day is the look of bewilderment on overwhelmed freshman faces. I hate to say it is one of my favorite parts, but freshman can be brutal to deal with, so I enjoy their looks of fear and uncertainty while they last! I went over four different class syllabai and passed out 120 behavior policies. I noted at least twelve looks of confusion when I was talking or explaining something. I had students in classes they had already taken. I have my room taken during my planning period. I have a student that has consistently been a nuisance and pervert in my classes in the past that decided he would say "titties" in my class today. However, I noticed that my usual angst and nervousness was not a problem today. I don't know if it is fourth year confidence kicking in or just an apathetic approach.. but I feel more positive about teaching than I ever have at the beginning of the school year. This is encouraging.. hopefully it sticks around for a long while.

photo via sharon montrose