The First Week of School

I survived the first week of school! I could definitely tell that I had been off of my feet for the entire summer. After the first day, my feet looked as big as an elephant's. Other than swollen and sore feet I have been relatively comfortable though. I have possibly only 5 more weeks left of teaching for a quite a while and I am very, very excited about that.
I have been doing some reflecting on my teaching experiences this past week and I just can't help thinking how much I wish the class that I have this year was the one I had last year. I say this because the class I had last year was so not fun and this year these kids are fun. It is amazing how different classes can be from year to year. After almost having a nervous breakdown from the kids last year, I was so thankful to be greeted by such amazing students this year. I do remember saying last year was off to a great start and then changing my mind about a week later, but things feel and seem different this year.
The other first grade teacher and I wondered if it was just us when it came to last year's group but the same kids minus a few of the most challenging (they transferred to another school) had to lose recess time on the second day of school. So things haven't changed much and the second grade teachers are already complaining about the same things we were complaining about. That made us feel a little better and we were especially thankful that our time with that group was over.
This time around in first grade, things are going so smoothly. I think part of that is because I know what to do and what not to do when it comes to first graders. For example, giving first graders a box of crayons is not a smart thing to do because they will inevitably spill them the first time they try to open the box. Having their crayons loose in a zippered supply bag is a much smarter thing to do. Individual snack money boxes are a very, very bad thing to use in first grade. A modified craft supply organizer is a revolutionary way to deal with snack money. It's just too bad I didn't figure some of this stuff out earlier. Hopefully though these things will help my replacement, who will be coming to observe in my classroom next week.
I am not sure if I will last another five weeks in the classroom, but if I do, I think it is going to be just fine and I might even go out on a limb here and say it might be fun. If it's not though, I will be home with my baby boy and living my dream as a stay-at-home mom very, very soon. Yay!!!