The First Day of School

The first day of school is always unnerving. It doesn't matter if you are a teacher or a student, if you are young or old. It makes you feel a bit like a child again. The nerves, the anxiety. But, is being a child really all that bad? I have been in school for 32 years now (wow, really?) and I still get nervous. I still lie awake the night before, and I still can never figure out if it is lie or lay, no matter how many times it is explained to me. I rehash what I am going to say (even though in reality I could do it in my sleep). Why do I psych myself out? I really think it has to do with two things: acceptance and the unknown. As much as we as teachers say it doesn't matter if kids like us, it does. I don't want them to be my friends, but I care that they like me as a person and think that I am a good teacher. We all place value in what others think to a degree. Not like I used to when I was younger, but to the extent that my feelings get hurt, sure. I think perhaps it is a bit of a learning curve; as teens we succumb to the pressures because we have no boundaries. Then we start building those boundaries, and sometimes never stop; they become these walls that then take years of therapy to tear down. So to have that childlike acceptance of others might not be such a bad thing in this world full of judgment and walls. The other thing that scares me about the first day is the unknown. What could happen? Yes! What COULD happen? As adults, we always seem to have a negative spin on our answer to this question. As a child, the answer is always magical. So, I hope as I get ready for my second day of school I can find a heart of acceptance for my students and the magic in the potential.