A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.

And today was that first step.

And it's going to be a long journey.  But I'm ok with that.

I survived my first day of fourth grade.  (Hmm, now that I think about it, this was my third first day of fourth grade: when I was a student ['96], student teaching ['07], and now my OWN class ['08].) So I guess this is the grade I'm meant to be in, eh?

Anyway, like I said, I survived. And I mean survived. Barely.  I'm not gonna lie, it was a rough day.  As in, it was 12:00 and I thought to myself "I can't do this. There's no way." I quickly got over that thought because I knew I HAVE to do this.  My hope is that it will only go up from here. 

On the bright side, the whole day wasn't horrible.  The afternoon was actually pretty decent.   Here's the juicy details (and don't expect a post like this every day).

• I get to school very early, unpack all my junk, and literally stare at the room for several minutes.  For two reasons: One, I couldn't believe I was standing in my very own classroom. No more of this "just a sub" thing.  And two, I could not believe at the disorganized chaotic mess I was looking at. More on that later.  I talk to my mentor teacher and get a little bit of the lo-down. Unfortunately, no lesson plans (or ANY grades for the marking period) had been left for me so I was starting from scratch.  I also found out that no one seemed to know where this class had left off in any subject.  Tiny problem. Fortunately I didn't really plan on doing much teaching (not in the reading, writing, or 'rithematic aspects anyway).
• The time comes to pick up the little darlings. I get them from their line, and hear the question: Are you the sub?  Nope. I'm here for good.   Mixed reactions from the line.
• Oh- funny story I have to interject here.  I was walking out with my class, turn around, and there I see one of my third graders, staring up at me.  Typically I'd assume he was just there to say hi.  Not this one.  He was still under the impression that I was the one he lines up with cause I'm still his teacher.  He tends to live in his own little world.  Sorry Irwin, not your teacher anymore.
• Anyway, we head up, do DEAR (Drop Everything And Read ), and I get attendance, etc. out of the way.  I then proceed with my little shpeel about expectations, incentives, all that fun stuff.  Well, they're testing me already. I made it very clear that I was not one to be messed with. They kept pushing.  I pushed back. This went on until it was time for health. 
• Picked them up from health, and they still thought they were in charge.  Not in my room, I told them.  All the stuff you got away with before will no longer be tolerated. It's a brand new year as far as I'm concerned.  At this point I made the mistake of trying to teach math.  Wasn't happening.  So we stopped, and I moved their seats.  It's amazing how quickly you pick up on who shouldn't be sitting together, what arrangement doesn't work, etc.  Well, I picked up on it quickly. Doesn't seem like their old teacher did. So we get that done and I take them to lunch.
• Now, about that chaos.  Anyone who's seen my bedroom knows that I am not obsessed with keeping things in order (I've gotten better, but still, it doesn't bug me if my bed isn't made or there are shoes on the floor.)  But this was RE-DIC-U-LOUS! Seriously. I'm not even joking when I tell you that these kids had so much stuff in their desks that their BOOKS couldn't even fit in them.  And I can't blame the kids for that.  There was simply no (apparent) structure prior to my arrival.  So we spent the afternoon cleaning out desks.  You wouldn't believe how many notebooks and folders they had that they weren't even using!  Needless to say, their desks are now organized. And mine is getting there- that's what I spent my hour after school doing. 
• Like I said, the afternoon was much smoother than the morning.  I think they started to see that I wasn't kidding around when I laid out my expectations.  The candy I gave them for cleaning their desks probably didn't hurt either. (Candy = Positive Reinforcement, NOT bribery.  And I gladly take contributions to my candy fund. Hint, hint.) 

So that was the gist of my first day.  The kids weren't perfect, but I wasn't perfect either. (Really- some of you who know me as quiet and mild-mannered would hardly recognize me in the classroom.)  But tough love is what they need.  And hopefully they'll become better students because of it.  That's my prayer for the year.  

Today was the first step... and there will be many baby steps to come, but maybe, just maybe, by the end of this journey, we'll be running and jumping instead of crawling.