It's THAT time of the year again...

I'm sitting in a school meeting right now. I know, I know... I should be paying attention but I'm having a difficult time focusing on the speaker. She's lecturing on GREAT stuff, but I cannot listen. Maybe it's ADHD. I'll ask the school nurse about it.

I just have this weekend and one day until I have students in my classroom once again. This summer quickly went slow. Figure that statement out. I have been spending a lot of time in my classroom and at home getting ready for my new little first graders. As a teacher, there are a lot of mundane and not-very-exciting things about beginning another school year but there are also some great things. 

So, here are a few of...

...about beginning another school year.

• Getting back together with my grade level team the school faculty after being apart for a few months. We all work so closely together during the year I really miss not seeing people in the summer. I consider them my close friends.
•  Getting my new class list and seeing if I have any siblings of former students. It's always fun when I have siblings and I have quite a few this year!
• Although it's a pain and I don't get paid for it, I enjoy coming to my classroom (on my own time) and getting my room set back up after it's been cleaned by our custodians.
• Being able to eat unlimited amounts of M&M's because of the back to school stress and not feeling like I care one bit about the calories or fat.
• None of the teachers I work with are "burned out"... yet, so everyone is bubbly and happy and easy going for the most part. We're grumpy with what we need to do but not with each other.
•  Wondering what adventures await me as I meet each new student on Mondays open house. I have NO IDEA what's in store with each child and set of parents. Each relationship is different.
• The "magical" feeling of everything being new again.
•  Being able to take time to observe and get to know my new students for the first few weeks of school.
• When the parents tell me that they're so excited their child is in my class. I'm sure the parents who aren't excited just don't say anything to me. Wink, wink.
• Learning something new about myself. Every class is so different each year that I always find out something new about myself. My education just seems to continue.

 Well, back to my meeting. Meetings are not my favorite thing about getting back to school but they don't kill me... or haven't yet anyway. Did I mention that I have 32+ students enrolled in my class and the air conditioning isn't working on my side of the school? It'll be a few weeks before it's fixed too. A lot of little six year old's in a steaming hot little classroom. Dream. Come. True. All that aside, it really is a great time of year!