Thursday: Meeting the Kids
Our open house is tomorrow night. OH means a 13+ hour day for me, generally without dinner, but it also gives me that all-important glimpse of what this coming school year will mean for me--in terms of both the students I'll have but also the parents I'll be dealing with. I just spent 6 hours at Shoeless Joe's tonight, but the majority of that time was spent talking to the teacher who had the low 4th grade class last year (i.e., the kids I'll have this year). I got some great insight from her and although this class may be more challenging (ability-wise) than my kids last year, I'm also ready to meet that challenge. Our first day of school is Monday, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the first day of school--I get to come out of the gate strong and scare the shit out of these kids. ;) Unfortunately, my reputation proceeds me with a lot of them (due in large part to older siblings who have already had the Miss K Experience), so they already know that although I can be a bitch on wheels, I'm also a softie at heart who will bend over backwards for them.
Damn.
;)
PS--one of the skills I've been learning over the last few years of teaching, a skill that I'll be truly implementing for the first time tomorrow, is that open house is a chance to not only set the stage with the students but with the parents as well. Yes, I have to lay the groundwork for an atmosphere of cooperation and teamwork with the parents, but I also have to (subtly and diplomatically) let them know that my classroom is MY classroom, and that I'm running the show, not them. It's a delicate tightrope, my friends....I'll let you know how it goes.
2 comments:
I hope you don't get another crazy mom, like the one you had last year. Ick. Enjoy your day!
The open house at Brent's school is a couple weeks after school starts. A week before school, we get to go in and meet the teacher and bring in supplies. Then the OH (Curriculum Night, is what it's called) is later in the month, and the PTO asks parents to bring food in for the teachers and it gets set up in the gym. They can mosey down when it's slow or grab something before the OH actually starts, or after all the parents leave, but at least they're eating SOMETHING. You know I'd bring you dinner if I was close enough :-)
Lay the smack down on those parents!
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