For A Teacher, It Never Changes

And just like that………..

I have keys. I have new Grade level girlfriends! There will be five of us. A perfect number to accomplish great things.

My room is as big as a cafeteria in the most beautiful shade of pale blue. Freshly painted, I’d have chosen that very color. Crisp white cupboards stand empty and clean. A beautiful new teacher’s desk sits in front of a private cupboard. Clean carpets. A quietness that screams anticipation and a bit of terror before the storm.

On the HUGE back wall from one side to the other, is a gorgeous mural of the high desert, complete with mustangs. Hand painted, the teacher before me was a very talented lady. God put me in this room, Room 56, just off a summer-hot first grade hallway. I’ll need to leave bread crumbs to find my way there again because it it an huge campus.

My heart is singing this song in every step I’m taking. For me, this beats any drug, glass of wine, or piece of chocolate I’ve ever eaten. Teaching is what God assigned me for my mission in life. I’ll be teaching with women decades younger than me. They all have rooms filled with stuff. Too the ceiling. But, as I already know, any great instructor can teach out of a rolling cart. Rather like Mary Poppins’ carpet bag, my rolling cart contains a bottomless assortment of adventure.

Let’s read in the middle of a thunderstorm and getting under the desks so we don’t get wet. Yup. In the next week, we’ll be doing that, thanks to the wonder of a thunderstorm CD and a student flickering the lights for the feeling of lightning. Let’s shoot into space with the shuttle laying on chairs flipped backwards on the floor, everyone in position for take off. Done that one when they used to show the Shuttle launches. We were right there taking off with the crew. Why don’t we ride our classroom chairs trotting down the beach with Black Beauty. Or pretend our classroom is the great land of Narnia because we just came through our very perfect kid sized closet door.

When you enter the world of the child, if the teacher is a smart writer, there are endless teachable moments that have nothing to do with books and materials. Teaching children to imagine and create is magical, and starting two weeks from tomorrow, it’s my curtain call. I can assure you, MRS. HURT IS IN THE BUILDING!

We’ll imagine and live through books. Some of them might even make us cry a little bit. We’ll learn numbers, addition, and subtraction. But, the very best thing is this. For 10 months, we’ll become a family of 20. We’ll practice respect, listening skills, and sharing. All while trotting toward the exit marked 2nd Grade.

I hear there’s a child that likes to run out the door. There’s a 20% chance I’ll get to know her by name. Don’t worry. After a bit, she’ll be running INTO class for a quick hug and lots of work. We’ll figure all this out, she and I, because there might be times I want to run out the door, too. I like her spontaneity already.

Today, I’m behind in a most important way. Okay, not REALLY behind, (my very last assignment isn’t due until next Monday). Behind because until it is out of my brain, it’s taking up valuable real estate rattling around in there. My college coed CULMINATING ASSIGNMENT. Rows of boxes in a chart need to be filled with valuable words that will take forever to grade.

After the last day of college, I’ll be waiting for my transcripts to arrive to clear my credential. I suppose it doesn’t really matter. The school has grown so much they’re hiring another 1st grade teacher this week. Her room will be even more bare than mine. Here’s the deal. You only need what you need for the first day. The same for the 2nd and 3rd, and so on. Pertty soon, you have a room full of necessary stuff, not cast off things you’ll never need.

It’s almost a relief that there’s nothing in my room. Not even a teacher’s manual. I wouldn’t even know where to locate them in this huge school. Today is the day I will finish this silly culminating assignment and close the college door. I’m pretty sure my grade will be above a D, and that’s all I need to clear my credential. No one will ever look at my transcript with disdain, asking why I couldn’t do better. I know, I did just fine. (Even if I get an A-.) Then, I’ll have time to go hunting for materials at school.

Time to turn on the music and dance a little.

Be happy. It’s the only way to roll. I’ll report back tomorrow with the progress I’ve made.