As cooler temperatures greeted me every morning this week, several signs and events have advertised that autumn has arrived. Whether it's college football and the start of the NFL season, warm apple cider abundantly flowing at the local farmers market, or spending my Sunday's tweaking and rewriting lesson plans for the upcoming week, the Fall is most definitely here. Tomorrow marks the first full week of school and, while I've officially been in the classroom for a couple weeks now, field trips and orientation-type classes have occupied the calender. For all intensive purposes, tomorrow is Day 1.
The ease in which we've introduced the 2009-2010 school year is very teacher-friendly. After the first day of school and the mass distribution of course syllabi, students and teachers are out of the building for two days in an effort to bond and build community. For a small school like ours, it's a wonderful experience and allows teachers to connect with students outside of the typical, sterile setting. It also allows for teachers (me, me, me) to take a deep breathe and catch up with paper work and classroom organization. Someone once reiterated to me a couple years ago that as a teacher, there's never enough time; given a whole day there will always remain something else you can do. It is my goal this year to realize that more quickly.
Another goal of mine is to manage the time that I have more wisely so not to let my classroom, graduate work, and extra curricular activities take away from my family and leisure time. While I'm concerned that fatigue, work ethic, and quality of work will inevitably deteriorate as the weeks progress (quite quickly as my graduate studies resume tomorrow as well), I recognize that my family needs and demands the best of me. This tension, even as a third year teacher, is a real and present danger.
But tomorrow, I will come in contact with 5 classes of relatively unknown students who will trust that I will respect, honor, and lead them to the best of my ability. The weight of responsibility is great, and I pray that God reminds me of this truth each and every morning.
