Sheila Sims Iding
Today is October 1st and it’s my favorite day of teaching. Actually, this October 1st is a Saturday so we aren’t even in school…but if we were…it would be my favorite day of teaching. Every year I wait for October 1st because I know it will be the turning point. I know when I take down the September calendar and put up the October calendar, that October 1st will feel a lot different than September 1st. And I know it will be my favorite day of teaching so far this year.
You see, on September 1st it is all too new. I don’t really know my class. They don’t really know me.
I don’t know who has a new baby in their family, who’s related to our close family friends, whose favorite color is orange and who hopes the Tigers win as much as I do.
I don’t know whose grandpa picks them up after school every day, who takes horse back riding lessons or who can’t wait for soccer practice.
I am not yet aware of who loves all the clips in her hair, who takes them out by lunch and which boy loves the gel and a spikey do.
I don’t know which ones need extra help reading, which ones need reminders about talking out and which ones need extra hugs for the “miss-my-mom” moments.
I am not sure which one will play air guitar during M & M (our dancing time), which one will hop as they dance and which one will try to sing each word.
On September 1st, they are still little first graders entrusted to my care. That is what I know most. And what they know most is that I am their new teacher.
They don’t know I get a bit silly some times and a bit weepy other times. They don’t know I lose my glasses all the time. They don’t know my steps are clumsy and so are my words. They don’t know that I have days when my printing is not so good and some reading words are tricky for me too.
They don’t know my favorite color is green, my favorite number is 4 and that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE hugs. They don’t know I charge one hug for tying shoes, two hugs for double knots and just a smile if they don’t feel like hugging. (Two smiles for double knots.).
They don’t know how disappointed I am when I pick them up from another class and I get a report that they did not make good choices. They don’t know if their star has to come off the board that I am more disappointed than they are sad. They don’t know that I think they are the best class in the world. They don’t know I don’t do tattling (ever!) I only do reporting. On September 1st they are still learning about this teacher.
They are still learning about Care Corner. They don’t know if they slam their desk shut, it’s a redo. They don’t know if they don’t say thank you, they won’t get crackers that day. They don’t know the most important thing they will ever write for me is their name so it better be their best printing. They don’t know that I don’t want anything perfect. I never expect perfect. I just want the best they can do that day. I don’t do perfect. But I don’t do less than their best either.
On September 1, they don’t know yet that we gather for prayer with a song and our gathering song is like a prayer. They don’t know that after the Pledge of Allegiance everyday we pray for peace in the world. They don’t know that when we hear the church bells ring at noon, we stop whatever we are doing and we sing a song of prayer.
On September 1st they are not sure of what a spelling test will be like, what reading for evaluation will be and how they will do on that first math test. They haven’t “taught” a math problem on the smart board yet, they haven’t played the flashcard game in the “pond” and they had no idea that mini-groups could be so much fun. They haven’t done a “word walk” around the room, learned our special first grade birthday song, danced to “Footloose”, or stood in our friendship circle (with no beginning and no end) at the end of the day to sing our sending song.
That first week of school they are not aware how important it is to care for a classroom pet, how important it is to care for classmates, how important it is to care about the work you do. They don’t know how important the saints will become in their little lives, they don’t know how important it feels to take money to the poor, they don’t know how important you feel when you sit in Mrs. McKerr’s lap at storytime and they have no idea how extremely important they are to me and our Care Corner family.
When I was in Care Corner today and I switched everything to October, I was reminded of my favorite day of teaching. Reminded of my favorite time when they are done being the new first graders of September. When the slow evolution from the first day of school to the first day of October is complete. When a brand new bond that started to form those first few days is now solidified and that is when they truly become Care Corner Kids from this day….forward.
Happy October 1st! Happy Bonding! Happy Care Corner Kid Day!