School Is In The Air

If you really take the time to notice, you can feel an ever so slight dip in the morning temperatures, those pink August lilies are blooming, and the coming of school is in the air. While it is hard to shift gears again so quickly, I really do like the feeling of going back. I am a person who likes order and fits into routine quickly. As much as I love the openness of summer I am always ready for the return of the orderliness of the academic year. It has become part of the turning of the seasons in my life. I don't remember liking the beginning of school as a child, it made me nervous. Someone new was taking over for my "favorite" teacher. There were new kids to meet and everything was going to be just a little bit harder. But life on the other side of the desk is different. It is the feeling of hope reborn once again. A new bunch of kids are on their way. They bring with them new stories, jokes, and challenges. The dream of being the best that I can be is reborn. It is the blank notebook that is waiting to be cracked open and the first letter to be written that will become the story of a new school year. I like everything about it but one of my favorite things is shopping for new school supplies and watching the interchange between kids and their moms as they choose the "perfect" binder, backpack, notebooks, folders and pencils. I'm looking for bargains but they are searching for acceptance from their peers and the moms seem to remember feeling those feelings. It is a new beginning where anything is possible, a fresh start for everyone. I head back to the classroom and slowly start pulling things out of their summer storage and find a place for each item. It is never ever the same place it was in just 2 short months ago because I love the look of old things in new places. Recreating the classroom walls is the closest I ever come to being artistic. It is my blank canvas where I choose just the right color that will mellow out the excitement of the early days but still feel like home in June. The border is added and some sort of message is created that welcomes them into the world of learning that will slowly be revealed over the course of the next 180 days. It is the crackle of unwrapping bundles of notebooks and sharpening pencils, the stacking of new books and labeling, the endless labeling of names that today have no meaning but in a matter of days will have stories attached to them that I will never forget. I love the emptiness of the new beginning and knowing that the peacefulness of the empty classroom will very soon become a chaos that is unable to be contained within those four walls. It is a time for planning when nothing gets in your way - no kids or parents or meetings or personal obligations. Yes, anything is possible, lessons and units are taught flawlessly in my mind and every thought and dream ends in success. It is every teacher's dream. New beginnings. A new year is on the brink of being born. I am ready for its joys and challenges. I am ready to laugh and lament at these kids who will for a year become like family. I am ready to learn again and push my boundaries just a tiny bit more. Welcome year number 21. Let's do it.