First day happiness

Today was officially the first day back to school. I left school, maybe for the first time ever, blissfully high on happiness instead of the usual tweaking out with anger and anxiety. A first of many, many days I hope. Granted, I only gave assessments today and did not have a full class, so Wednesday might be a different story, but today, for first time, I feel that rewarding feeling of being a teacher. Here's why:

Seeing the look on B's face when he saw me outside his new classroom. Actually, the look of the whole family! I truly feel like I've touched some lives, and I wonder if they'll ever know the immense impact they had on mine.

Chatting with M, a stressed student about some game/video called Little Planet. He went from missing mom to Little Planet expert in a matter of seconds.

JB's dad is a teacher at our feeder high school. He got a sub for his first period class, on their first day of school too, to bring his son in for his assessment. Mom, who is also a teacher, sent me an email within a few hours saying lovely things about her son, voicing some of her very valid concerns and asking my opinion on a few things. This love and commitment to their son's education is so incredibly inspiring.

Building giant towers of little colored cubes with one of my new ELL students. V barely understands English and is quite shy, but we had so much fun seeing who could build their tower the highest while her mom filled out paperwork. Excited to be building bonds so soon!

Actually learning something personal about one of my Spanish-speaking moms. Somehow I have finally stopped being afraid of my broken Spanish; I put myself out there today and was actually able to communicate, through two different languages and a whole lot of emotion, in a way I didn't think was possible.

And finally, I've said it before, but I will say it a hundred times more- the women I work with are truly incredible. We're such a team. Seeing everyone shine today was motivating, inspiring and just wonderful. I feel so, so lucky to be a part of a team that is SO dedicated to children and their families.

So that's just a few of today's many highlights. And hey, it's only been 6 days since my last post! This is going to be a good year.

Love,

AJ