Ladies and Gentlemen...... KINDERGARTEN!

Well, today was my first day of Kindergarten! Working toward this day I have been a whirlwind of emotions: Excited, nervous, determined, intimidated, inspired, overwhelmed, joyful..... And today? Uh, well I'd say that from an emotional standpoint, I was downright schizophrenic. I'm pretty sure I experienced just about every one of these emotions (probably more) at least once within the 8 hour day. We had one or two bumps along the way, mainly the moment when I went to pick my class up from the lunch tables, couldn't find them anywhere, and immediately thought, "Well! I'm fired.  ...And will probably be in the paper tomorrow. I can see it now: Rooky Teacher Loses Entire Kindergarten Class, Causes Parent Riot." But moments later when they emerged from the cafeteria, completely unscathed, and just running late from the first-day lunch line traffic jam, my confidence was reinstated and I knew it couldn't get much worse than that feeling! All in all, I'd say it was a good day! Everyone left with all their body parts, all their clothes, the right parents, and a smile. What more can a first-year, first-day teacher ask for??

I intend to keep this first official "state-side blog" post short and sweet, mostly because I am completely exhausted (my adrenaline-induced lack of sleep last night probably isn't helping), and partly because a lot of today seems much like a giant blur of name tags, jumbo crayons, and untied shoe laces, but what I do know is that I think I have what will shape up to be a great little bunch of kiddos! So far I've discovered a Mild and Meek, a Proud and Bright, a Little Miss Bossy, a Quiet "Genius", a Young-For-His-Age, several Sugary-Sweets, a Stinker, and a number of Wide-Eyed Newbies. We're going to do great!

Before I go, since I am a first-time teacher and the overall intent of this blog is to share (and laugh... and maybe cry a little) about the lessons I learn along the way (hence the subtitle "And Other Learned Behaviors") I figure now is a good time to start sharing what I have learned. 

Today's Lesson: There is a very real and very palpable time-warp happening inside of the school gates. One which turns hours into minutes and minutes into hours. There is never enough time to prep and plan no matter what you do, I literally could be doing something for work 24 hours a day and never be done, yet there is more than enough time to have various awkward moments peppered throughout the day, like when you ask a question that no one understands and you begin to feel the focus of your lesson slowly slipping away from you. It's a sick and twisted "Twilight Zone" of time that I can only hope to better navigate one day.

More to come soon!