Last First Day of School

 Last First Day of School

I heard the rumble of voices outside my room as I sat at my computer.

They’re here, oh crap. Am I ready? What was my plan? The numbers, get the numbers for the seats.

I walked to the table beside the door and grabbed a stack of index cards, each had a number on it, 1-41, that corresponded to the seats in the room. I took a deep breath and opened the door.

Staring back at me were sweet small faces with large eyes, some with glasses, some with bad hair cuts, some with braids, some with natural curly hair, some with jeans,and  some with pressed khaki’s. They stood in a line next to the wall beside my classroom waiting for directions.

“Buenos Dias. Good morning. I’m Mrs. Gardner and this is Spanish Connections. I’ll be handing you a card with a number on it, that number will tell you where to sit.”

I handed a number to the first kid, and he stood frozen.

“You can go ahead into the classroom.” I had forgotten about 6th graders. You have to tell them every little step. They wait for explicit directions before moving. Worlds apart from 7th graders.

“Here’s your number”, I said to the next student. “Go in and find your seat.”

After the last kid came in, I went in the room and closed the door. All faces looked to me for the next step. Funny though. I wasn’t sure how to start. This was different than my first day of student teaching 35 years ago. Somehow, I felt like an alien in my own classroom. There were humans in front of me. And I didn’t speak their language.

What’s the plan? What were you going to do? Look at your notes.

I found my little notepad which reminded me of my plan.

“Alright, the first thing I’m going to do is teach you how to say my name. Senora Jardinera.”

I broke it down to 3 parts. Senora. Jardin. Era. They eagerly repeated the musical sounding name. One kid spontaneous said, “Sounds like the beat’s about to drop.”

I piggy backed off this. “Yes, Spanish is quite a musical language. Let’s look at these 2 words. They both end with an ‘a’. That’s one reason it sounds like music. You hear a beautiful rhyme. I said it outloud, emphasizing the “a” at the end.

I took a deep breath and realized that spending the past 12 months as a virtual teacher had re-wired my brain. Transitioning, that’s what I was doing. Moving into a new realm, post Covid, Post-Virtual, Post-Trauma….Post-Everything I Knew..

“All right, so now I’m going to ask each of you to write down your name on a little card. I held up a blank index card for them to see. On one side you will write your name. Then you will finish the sentence, “Life is better with……”

On the other side, you will create a symbol that represents who you are.

“Does anyone know what symbol this is?” I pointed to a peace sign I had drawn on my whiteboard.

A kid on the front row raised his hand. “Go ahead.”

“Its a peace sign.”

“That’s right. I appreciate peace. In my work life and in my personal life. I don’t like fighting or conflict. I try to get along with everyone and have peace in my life.”

Some kids nodded, other’s looked like they were lost in another world.

“When I was in the 6th grade, this symbol was everywhere. The vietnam war was happening, and young people wanted peace. I drew this symbol on my notebook. It was also on patches on our bluejeans.”

You aren’t a history teacher, time to move on with things.

“So, before there was writing using alphabets, humans communicated with symbols. If they drew the sun, a simple circle with the rays, that meant ‘sun.’ So think about what your personal symbol would be for who you are, and draw a simple or complex symbol on the back of your card.”

I passed out cards, and showed the students the class set of crayons and colored pencils.. 

Before they started I showed them my own card.

Here’s an example for you.

“Side one-Your name.

Mine says Kathy Gardner

Life is better with…. Biscuits. I just love a good buttered biscuit.”

I waited for a reaction. It was like a lead balloon. I kept going.

“Here on the back, my symbol, (which looked like a picasso cubist drawn by a 5 year old). This symbolizes me. I love art.”

“I thought your symbol was peace.” a kid said.

“Yes, it is. But I also love art, so I wanted to show you a different symbol. This one is in color. You can do a simple black and white symbol, or a complex symbol in color.”

I then said, “Take as much time as you need. No hurry. You can move to a different seat if you need to, or sit on the floor, wherever you are comfortable. And I”ll pick these up from you at the end of class.”

I sat down at my desk and sighed with relief. 

You did it. Day 1, first class.

Two minutes later someone said, “I'm done, what do I do now?”

You’ve gotta be kidding me. This was supposed to take 15 minutes. What do I tell this kid? Can’t he see that I have NOTHING else planned!!!?? Just chill kid. 

“Well let me see what you’ve done.”

Jeffery had written and drawn everything on the same side. 

Jeffery Smith, life is better with family. 5 stick figures were underneath his sentence. The word family underneath it with arrows pointing up.

“Jeffery, life IS better with family. I love your symbol. 5 stick figures to symbolize family.

“They are holding hands.” He added.

“That’s really nice!”

I handed it back to him. “Keep it till the end of class. You can find a way to quietly entertain yourself for a few more minutes, can’t you?”

Jeffery smiled. “Yeah. I can.” He looked disappointed though.

“Or you can take a quick nap.” I added

He smiled at me and I walked away.

“I guess I’ll nap, I’m tired.” he said.