The First Day of School! Or, "Ack! There are ants on the toilet!"

So, it's really, really tempting right now to say something like "zomg! ::dramatic wilt:: I didn't know it was POSSIBLE to be THIS tired." But that would be a lie. I've been more tired than this, to be perfectly truthful, but I am really, really dang tired right now. My feet are aching as if I've been wandering around Disneyland all day wearing old flip-flops (that's what I get for opting for cute shoes that flatter my legs in the skirt I picked to wear today, rather than the shoes that wouldn't have really matched but would have been WAY more comfortable...), I'm sleepy because I've been awake since about 4:00 am, and I'm drained from the first day of mostly-faked first day enthusiasm (not to mention emotionally bruised from having my new first day of sophomore English lesson pretty much bomb out. Twice. Not good for the ego. Anyway...). Plus, today was supposedly going to be the hottest day of this heat wave we're dealing with, and though thankfully my school is air conditioned, a quick trip to the bathroom or the job of holding the door open to greet the kiddos on their way in quickly negates the comfort of the A/C.

Overall, things were better than I could have anticipated. 40+ kids in every class is every bit as overwhelming as you might imagine, but really only TRULY overwhelming as they're entering class or leaving class, or if they are submitting an assignment at the beginning of class. But my room didn't feel as crowded and stuffy as I thought it might, but I won't get my hopes up too high that that feeling will last... wait until the first time I try to have them move around ... ::shudder::

Then there were the ants in the bathroom. I mentioned the ants in my classroom, which, because I live in there, I was able to manage on my own, but a common space like a bathroom is a whole different ball of wax. There are ants running in circles around our staff bathroom (at least, the one that is closest to my classroom) and though this isn't exactly a new problem, or the first time they've found their way in there, it IS the first time the wily ants have made their way down to the floor and have consequently found the porcelain... both toilets can be found as an exploration spot for several ants. They're not swarming the toilet seats or anything, but there were definitely enough on there when I went in after school that I had to carefully clean them up and make sure no others were in the process of making their way up to the top of the toilet, so as to avoid the lovely sensation of having them crawling on me. Ew. I have to stop thinking about this. It's too gross.

I have several former students back, and, weirdly, in one of my classes, where there are about four or five of them, they all sat in their former seats! It was so bizarre to be looking out into the sea of faces and not just seeing familiar faces, but seeing them in familiar places in the classroom. It was too weird to ignore, so I definitely commented on it. :) That's just how I roll. I was very excited to have some of these students back this year -- they're awesome, awesome kids, and if the rest of my AP kids are like them, I will love my life with them. It is a little weird that all of my AP sections are all in a row, so I do the same thing three times in a row. Though I do have my prep in between the first two, it's still the same thing until lunch. Which is GREAT for materials, but also totally a trip because by the third straight time, I barely know who I am or what I'm doing. SO that part will be interesting.

And as I mentioned earlier, I totally bombed out my first day lesson with my sophomores, which is really a shame. I had such lofty ambitions about it, but I think it's a topic better suited for something much later in the school year, after we've established some rapport together. Le sigh. Hopefully I can make it up to them by the time we get fully entrenched in the Technology Unit. Tomorrow and Friday, they're doing diagnostic tests and stuff, so I won't have much time to win them over... but so far, they might be better than last year's crop of sophomores... ::fingers crossed::

Now, I'm already in bed and it's not even 9:30 yet, and as soon as I wrap up this blog post, I'm going to scoot myself down and probably be completely asleep in ten seconds flat.

All in all, it was a really good day, considering the really scary anticipate of these monstrous class sizes. Honestly, I really do love my job. I love every second of what I do. (... Okay, maybe not EVERY second, but a fair portion of them). I do believe teaching is a calling; otherwise, why would anyone put up with what we go through? And "what we go through" can be interpreted any way you choose.

Goodnight, first day of school. Here's to 174 more. Cheers.