The First Day

Again, let me reiterate the strangeness of my situation. I started teaching after the students had already been in school for two weeks. They had, as it turned out, a rather sub-par substitute. Let's call him Mr. Terse. Cuz that's what he was. One terse dude.

Anyhow, the deal was that I'd start on a Monday, but would have until Thursday to get myself together-- meet the other 6th grade teachers, go into their classrooms and see what they were up to, get to know my kids. And plan.

Monday came around, and I sauntered in, teachery glasses perched on my nose, pen stuck through my hair. I met Mr. Terse, the substitute, and he ushered me outside to meet my little darlings.

As I walked to meet them, I heard the voices of several kids "Is that our teacher?" and then, "HEY! ARE YOU OUR TEACHER?" I just looked at the shouts, unamused. Then, more quietly...

"Hey... um. Are you our new teacher?"
"I am."
"Are you nice?"
"No. But I'm fair."

The kids didn't quite know what to make of that. They exchanged slightly worried glances that said "Is this chick going to be as bad as the sub?" On the inside, I was already giggling. They were in for a wild ride.

Two minutes later, I was in the classroom. I snapped on my orator voice and told them what was up. I was their new teacher, I would be starting permanently on Thursday, but until that time I expected respect to the substitute as well as myself, and excellent behavior.

I sat in my desk (My desk! MY desk!) and learned their names. But before long I began to wiggle. I couldn't just sit there and watch. I had to take over. Mr. Terse was doing as best as he could, but the students (or was it my presence?) made him nervous. Half of them weren't listening, and those who were didn't get what he was saying. They all stared at him with dead, glassy eyes.

I raced to the board and explained math as a code, and the students as codebreakers. Sherlock Holmes-es, every last one of them. Superheroes about to save the world. I drew pictures and made up stories. Questions shot from my mouth like horses at a racetrack. The kids were paying attention. And to my glee-- the principals walked in at that very moment, grinned, gave me thumbs-up signs, and walked back out.

Yes!, the little voice in my head said.

And the day was to get better. Science came around, and similarly to math, I couldn't sit still. We talked about the world's oceans, the water cycle. One of my kids asked "How come there are no oceans around here?"

Mr. Terse said "Well, that's kind of a long story," and looked at me like "Go ahead if you want."
I thought for a second, and in an exhaustive 2 minutes, explained Pangea, continental drift due to plate techtonics, and the makeup of the Earth beyond the crust.

The student who asked the question just kind of stared at me in wonder.
"You know everything!"

On the inside, I grinned. The student's comment just about made my week.

Which was damn good, because, as it turned out, the week was about to get hairy.