They were great words to hear. The First Day of School, by numbers:
40. Number of minutes late I woke up this morning
28. Number of students in 4A
20. Number of minutes our class (4A) was late at dismissal time
3. Number of hours of sleep I managed last night
2. Number of lines the students march in from room to room during the schoolday
Number of students who went to the nurse's office (returning soon thereafter)
Number of girls who had to remove illegal nail polish
Number of people with "Headmaster" in their title who expressed their disappointment that my class was
20 minutes late
1. Number of people with "Headmaster" in their title who told me in person one hour later that they were not
mad anymore.
0. Number of students who (I fear) were given the correct set of books during my failed distribution
All told, it was a wonderful day. Our class is well behaved and very intelligent. I felt surprisingly comfortable in this new role and especially enjoyed leading the troops through the halls in their (nearly) straight and (nearly) silent lines. In facet, it seems I spent a third of the day walking the halls for one reason or another, as our room is as farthest from the main office and from the nurse.
I didn't do any real teaching today, though. The closest I came was answering a few student questions about a math competency test. But this will not doubt improve soon. I look forward to finding the rhythm of the school day and knowing how I can best serve my lead teacher as her assistant.
Now, about the dual fiasco that ended an otherwise blunder-free day:
With just a couple of minutes left before dismissal, I was asked by my lead teacher to distribute text books for the kids to take home for their parents' review. I was then left alone with the children to complete the task and get them outside. Unfortunately, this task took us 20 minutes past dismissal; and I misread my class list and so gave the wrong books to just about every child.
The damage control email has already been sent by the lead teacher, and it appears I will not have to answer to confused or angry parents, as the replies will go to her. Hopefully. At press time, 5:41PM, I personally have received no angry parent emails.
God be praised for a successful day. I'll be back at it tomorrow, wiser and better rested.
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