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My only worry is that I and his teachers will fail at keeping this excitement alive, other than that I am happy to see my baby-boy enter a new chapter in life.
A new school year is coming up. We, the teachers,
started this week having planning days; preparing to welcome and how to teach
the students.
When you’re a teacher you are never completely grown
up; you still dread for school to start after the summer. Fall is not about
struggling through autumn gale when out for a walk, or sitting inside enjoying the
rain tapping on the windows. Fall is new books,
new students, a new start.
It’s not only the
students who enter the classroom meeting new peers and teachers; we, the
teachers, enter the classroom facing new classes. Since this is a vocational
training school, there are only 15 students in each class, but these fifteen
students are individuals, each with their own background we have to take into
consideration, we have to learn a lot of new names and learn how to meet their
personalities and planning the lessons right in order to keep up progress of
learning, for each and every one of them.
I love it! But even though I have
been a teacher for quite some time I face the beginning of each year with excitement
and nervousness. Just like the students do.
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I like wearing heels. I am 5”3’, which is not very tall, but with heels I can imagine I am taller. It makes wonders for my self-esteem, cause I always find myself being the shortest person in the classroom. Maybe it’s just the impact of a better posture asserting itself (stooping is more or less impossible when wearing high heels; straight back and chin held high comes naturally), to look confident makes a lot of difference, it’s like the feeling itself sneaks into your consciousness and makes itself known in your appearance. For my part that is important for executing good classroom management. (I just made myself come across as a very strict teacher... I'm not. I don't say like many, with a wry smile, do: "Never smile to the students before Christmas". I actually have problems being angry, and when I do get mad it never lasts for long. I still keep my students focused, though... touch wood.)
The excitement of
being back is not just related to the students and the subjects I teach. I really enjoy the teachers’ lounge, the fellowship
between the teachers on a place safe from the “enemy”. Students are demanding, just the way they should be, but in
the teachers’ lounge we relax, exchange stories, experiences and methods. Sometimes
a student has made a great comment… maybe it’s not a good idea to reveal the
secrets of that part of work…
We discuss common rules and regulations for the classroom, the students and us, the teachers. We demand nothing less from each other than we do of the
students, which makes us able to face the students standing firm and with
no doubt our colleagues
back us up. The sense of loyalty is reassuring and comforting.
All together the
entire package embrace the hope I have for my own son: That each student will
experience how much fun it is to discover progress in knowledge and personal
abilities, both in subjects and as an individual.