First Day of School

I don't remember the first day of second grade being so tiring when I was seven! The day flew by, and by 3:30, I was ready for bed. Aye. It was a very good day, though, and I've learned a lot already. I've also wowed many little girls with my jump roping skills :)My friend Amy is also interning at Coe Elementary so she I talked during afternoon recess. Both of us are learning so much, which is fantastic. Mr. Murray and I have 26 kids, which is six more than last year, apparently. The room is a bit cozy, and our line in the hallway is quite long, but it's not too bad. We have lots of interesting students with some interesting names. For instance, we have a Stella, an Ellery, Dorothy, Tillman, Kanai, Rycher, Najma, Vlasta, and Jakob (pronounced Yachum). So interesting! There's not a single Sarah, Jennifer, Brittany, Eric, John, or Sam. The kids are very fun and interesting, too. For instance, Bella has made up her own code language, which she sometimes switches to without warning. Elizabeth cannot sit still for more than one second to save her life. Rycher showed me his self portrait and made sure to point out that he included all of his cavities, not to mention all the plaque on his teeth, as well. My response was, "What a good drawing, Rycher! Perhaps you need to work on your teeth brushing a little..." Jake is seven and is currently 5'0", so we're raising his desk tomorrow morning. And if you think the kids are interesting, let me mention the parents. We have your usual parents who don't label backpacks and lunchboxes (a HUGE pet peeve of mine), and then there's the parents who label EVERY SINGLE one of their son's or daughter's pencils and markers. There are also the parents who have separation anxiety and eat with their kids at lunch, which is not smiled upon or encouraged. And the new trend these days - or at least at Coe - is to rather than hand your teacher an apple or a box of Kleenex as you walk through the door, you toss a ream of paper at them! So far we have tens reams of paper, and some kids forgot theirs this morning, so more is on the way.

All of the staff and teachers have been incredible so far, as well as the PTA (lots of free food!). Teachers are constantly coming up to me and offering me loads of advice. My favorite piece of advice came from Christie, a young kindegarten teacher:
"Go home today at 4pm, put on your pajamas, and soak your feet in the tub. Then, put in a movie and go to bed at 9. And wear extra comfy shoes tomorrow." :)