fabulous first day

My little learners sporting their first day hats!

Today was the day! If I was excited when I sat down to write yesterday, I am even more so today. I have a fantastic group of kinders and I cannot wait to see what this year brings us. They followed rules really well for a group of five year olds and they did a great job of explaining some of our basic classroom rules as new students trickled in throughout the day. They're a quick bunch, I'm going to need to stay on my toes this year to keep ahead of their learning curve.

I mostly went with the flow today, following my gut instead of the obligatory lesson plan that I had filled out. We learned our silent signal and bathroom signal. We learned how to line up and walk through the halls. We toured the school, we practiced coloring, gluing and writing our names. We made first day of kindergarten hats. Most of the students can count past ten and they can all sing the alphabet song. They listened well during story time and they managed to stay (mostly) focused for about three minutes of independent reading time. These kiddos are on fire!

With all of this in mind, I am trying to reflect upon how this year differed from last year. The ways are really endless. I greeted each student and parent as they entered the classroom. I had a sign-in sheet prepared so that parents could tell me how students would be leaving school. I had materials ready for them to use as they finished breakfast. I kept them busy until dismissal (and I was prepared to keep on keeping on if my assistant didn't remind me that they had to leave). In other words, this year differed mostly because I have a year of experience now. I know that things are not going to go as planned, and I have a plan for that too. Mainly, I breathe, smile, laugh with the students when it is appropriate and discipline them when necessary.

Happy first day everyone!