August 17, 2011
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1 I'll be honest with you.
2 I was scared yesterday. No matter how cocky a teacher acts, the Opening Day jitters are palpable. The truth is that you don't know WHAT is going to happen. You don't know if you are going to get angels from Heaven or blasts from Hell. Once the bell rings, or the horn honks, or whatevs, your destiny for the year might be sealed.
3 It's a gamble, and you want a good hand.
4 The Dealer had a hot hand yesterday.
5 Fun student after fun student poured through my door yesterday. Some fun, some serious, some totally goofy, but all friendly.
6 It began when I arrived fashionably late yesterday morning. Have you ever wondered what a day in the life of a teacher might be like? Well how about an OPENING day in the life of a teacher? I'll be honest with you. We all begin scared. All of us. So today's DN is going to be a look behind the scenes. Without further ado, let us jump down the rabbit hole!
7 Yesterday morning was for students to get ID cards, classes straightened out, and really, just to get acclimated. Teachers didn't start school until 10:35 a.m.
8 So I was fashionably late for 8, but right on time for a 9:30 arrival. I thought 9:30 a nice time to roll in. When I arrived, the parking lot was about a third full, so even though it felt late, it really wasn't. I even had time to laugh and talk with a few friends before heading for my classroom.
9 When I got inside, I hooked up my laptop to my Altec system, and it still didn't quite have the sub-woofer sound I had searched for the day before, but it really did sound great. I threw on the same Muddy Waters' mix that I had played the other day, and absolutely loved it.
10 Suddenly, my door opened, and around five very familiar students stood frozen, looking like something out of Dickens.
11 I invited them in out of the "cold" and they still approached me strangely. One really familiar student asked, "Are you the same Mr. Harrington as Mr. Bud Harrington?" I raised an eyebrow, then chuckled inside.
12 I couldn't lay off that pitch. They must have put "George" down on the students' schedules. I played along. "I'm actually his twin brother George."
13 All five were crestfallen. It worked.
14 But I didn't have the heart. "Hey ya dummies! I'm the same guy you had two years ago!!! I don't have a twin brother; I have twin names!" They all lit up, had a group hug that involved jumping straight up and down for around fifteen seconds, and then they jumped away enthusiastically and high-fived me, low-fived me, and just kept jumping.
15 One girl became really sad, and I looked up and said, "What's wrong with your friend?"
16 "She doesn't have you this year." =(
17 I said, "Well, we have a GREAT staff here, so chin up! I get super-mean anyway, so you should know that!" The girl truly felt left out. Not much I could do, since our student population is close to twenty-seven hundred. Uh...schedule change? Hardy-har-har.
18 Very quickly I turned to the others and said, "You guys, I'm SO excited about being your teacher this year, AND teaching SENIORS!!! It's World Lit, and I'm thinking of us going on a World Tour, complete with T-Shirts and all the rest! A history of the world and all its lit. I'm gonna start with ancient Messapotatoes and we'll move to the Sumerians and Gilgamesh and those cats!" They started up jumping up and down once more.The girl who was left out smiled anyway. It wasn't THAT sad! I don't really think they had any idea who Gigamesh was, but it didn't seem to matter. I could have said "Felix the Cat" and they would have jumped up and down.
19 It wasn't really me. They were excited because it was their Senior year, and they were just giddy with emotion on the first day of school. You all remember what that was like.
20 Of course, I LOVED it. I started talking about all the ideas and hopes I had for the class, and they lit up.
21 It's pretty easy to be a rock star in that sort of surrounding. I got them all "hyphie", and by the time the bell rang for them to get to class, they had already gone on to a different location. I just smiled. I felt like an ol' grandpa. I'd seen this scenario many times before. It never gets old. I looked over the top of my glasses and smiled again.
22 I don't know that I ever get old either.
23 Days like yesterday make me feel twenty years younger, no question. I sometimes wonder if, like the great Merlin of Arthurian fame, am I youthening?
?????24 AnywayZ, my first class came in, and some of the best of the best students from last year streamed in with a lot of students I didn't know. The atmosphere was upbeat, almost carnival-like, as I began all my schtick. I decided to throw some of my classic stories and openings out there. Might as well use my best pitches.
25 It worked. I had also done my homework, and knew who was coming in, so that I could say, "Hi Alex!" without worrying that I might have forgotten someone's name. I did really well, especially for the first day of school. It's nerve-wracking.
26 I was happy to realize that I remembered every single student's name, and much of their hopes and dreams.
27 "Hey Mose, still playing ball?" Moses was in my class last year. Looks like a teenage Ringo Starr. Mose sported a new, dapper orange mohawk, and a great ol' smile. "Yep!" came his reply.
28 The day danced wild and wonderfully after that. My posse from the morning came in swiftly for my second class, the one with the Seniors, and from the moment the door opened up, students I had three and four years ago came in for a reunion, and to give this ride a second go-round.
29 This continued for the remainder of the day. It was a complete carnival atmosphere. The class after break actually arrived around seven minutes early, which was one of those strange moments. Some bell rang, and everyone got quiet, but my watch said that class didn't start for five more minutes, even though the entire class had already arrived! It was a bit strange, to say the least.
30 So to break the pregnant silence, I just said, "Hi, I'm Mr. Harrington!" and I heard a few "Hi's". So I announced it a second time, and it perked up the room and gave a resounding, "Hi Mr. Harrington!" Whew. Seemed the carnival was back in motion.
31 And then they fell silent. Again. Really strange. And there were still around three more minutes until class would even start. Why were they all so early? I decided to begin my lesson anyway, because it was so darned strange sitting with a class awaiting the tardy bell.
32 Well, the trouble with beginning early is that you end early too! I found myself with almost fifteen minutes to kill, which does happen on the first day of school. The relativity of time distorts the entire day. The same lesson that takes almost the entire period early in the day could fall as much as fifteen minutes short later in the day. A lot of it is controlling adrenaline and remembering not to leave anything out.
33 I realized that I had forgotten to take roll, which on the first day takes a little longer so you could write down phonetic pronunciations of names, as well as nicknames. And since I had already started five minutes early, AND that I had to stretch the other lessons an extra five minutes, I found myself facing a fifteen-minute gap! It's like a bad outing for a relief pitcher. The innings get lonnnng pretty quickly.
34 I opened a Q and A, and then took roll. With five minutes left, I asked if there were any more questions, but they were already engaged in catching up with their friends. I said, "If there are no more questions, you're free to catch up with your friends." It got louder and more normal, and I got past that very weird moment in the day.
35 The next period had 35 students physically present. That usually means automatic noise, no matter HOW good you are. But they were wonderful and cooperative and an incredible audience. Well timed, and perfect. I tried to you tube John Sebastian's Welcome Back at the end of the period, but it didn't work. Nice try, but they got away. Every day I want to improve my lesson as the day progresses. Constant criticism as to what worked and what didn't. Teachers. I swear. Perfectionists. And never happy with how it went.
36 Once they were out, it was my prep period. I was a bit hungry, flew down to this little Asian hole-in-the wall, got some shrimp balls and water, and shot back up to the school. I really couldn't wait for my last class. It had lots of students that I already had.
37 They came in, and I prepared myself to deliver my smoothest lesson of the day. It worked. I concentrated on my story, had better rhythm, better pauses, and almost a perfect sense of timing. I took it to two minutes, stopped, and they applauded! I instantly went back to my computer, just as they were packing their stuff, and managed to put John Sebastian's Welcome Back through my stereo. The sub-woofer kicked in, just enough to work perfectly as the bell rang, and they were leaving to the distant voice of, "Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back!" Absolutely perfect!
38 Amazingly, last night as I was finishing writing all this, the PBS show entitled Legends of Folk: The Village played while I was writing. I didn't even put it on. Just as I was writing about John Sebastian, his face came on the special, and he talked a little about the mid-sixties, and the "hip" scene. Some of the artists talked about how each show they would try to top the previous one.
39 I looked up and smiled, because that's almost what I had spent my entire first day of the school year trying to do, to give the best I could before the end of the day. That's an interesting part of teaching. Each period is like another "show", and you want perfection.
40 Throughout the day I would have my timing off a little on the story, or I would say a word or two too much. As I would speak, my mind, my inner coach would say, "Cut it short, pause a little longer here. Stop and look left. Don't say that." Honestly. All good teachers do that, every single day.
41 I don't know that I've ever taken the DN crowd through a day in the life of a teacher, especially an opening day. It could have been a dreadful disaster, but yesterday wasn't. At all. After school another teacher flew into my room and asked how my day went. I told him it was completely electric and amazing, a few small slow moments, but overall, great vibrations, great classes, and wonderful students.
42 He said that his day was the same! We talked about some successes, as well as some of our failures last year. Turns out he's also teaching English 2A, and we exchanged a few ideas, talked a little department stuff, and then wrapped it up. I didn't even need to bring my texts home because the rest of the week is pretty much ready to rock!
43 So that's it, the first ever inside look at a day in the life of a teacher, first day of school. That's what it was like. Lovely opening. Honestly, they aren't always. But yesterday was really fun, and I can't wait to go back today for more!
44 I could get taken down on the kickoff today, but the fact is, you don't know one day to the next what might happen.
45 But like anything else, it is always nice to start strong, and relax and enjoy the students and the school.
46 Hope you enjoyed this inside look.
47 More to come.
48 Peace.
~H~
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