First Day of teaching #28.  My husband asked me last night if I would have trouble sleeping as it was  the night before the first day of school.  Not so much, although I did check my alarm several times to make sure the volume was up and that I hit a.m. instead of p.m.  Other than that I slept like a baby because, after all, the first day is like riding a bike – once you learn how, you never forget.

It has taken a couple of years but today my newest school finally felt like home.  I walked into my room, ready to go for students, everything where I wanted it, and I did my usual routine of checking the mail, setting up my desk, and reading email while I ate some breakfast.  It’s nice.  In the old days, I would have been too wound up making sure I had stuff ready for my first class to eat or relax, but not so much anymore.

I was met with little voices saying “hi Mrs. Bush” and “I missed you Mrs. Bush!” There were smiles, hugs and shy waves.  I asked one new student if he needed directions as to where to go and he said, “no, I’ve got it”, walked a few feet more, turned around and said, “well, maybe I could use some help”.  Almost 100 kindergartners with parents in tow, many of those parents with tears in their eyes, found their teachers to begin their new journey in education.  It’s a ritual I never get tired of.

This first week will consist mostly of teaching procedures.  I’m not crazy about taking all that time, but I know that in order to teach and for my kids to learn, they have to know my expectations.  My goal this year is to be more focused on the process than the destination, so I want to make sure my students are following those procedures so that they can work to achieve their fullest potential.  Today, a few of my students that I know well didn’t even give me a honeymoon period however, they jumped right back to where they were when they left in May, still struggling with certain behaviors that distract everyone else in the room.  It’s hard to be really firm with them on their first day, but next week will be a different story.

Then there were my new little people, some surprising me because they jumped right into the routine like they had been there forever, others quickly letting me know that they were going to be my new challenges for this year as they tested the waters to see how much they could get away with.  And it’s funny how much those students will gravitate towards my other little guys who struggle.  Guarantees that there will never be a dull moment, that’s for sure.

We began today with some improvisation, starting with a chant and letting students use some instruments to accompany the chant.  I’ve decided that I don’t let my kids experiment enough and this is what we’re going to try this year.  We’ll see how it works.  My kindergartners began singing for me for the first time today, some of them singing their new song as they left my room.  The tune wasn’t quite there, but the idea was that they were trying.  I can do anything with a kid who tries.

Each day this week I will see about 100 of my students and every five days I will see them again.  It’s a little bit longer time in between than I’m used to but we’re growing.  The challenge then this year is what is to determine what is essential to focus on and how do I get them to retain it over that week of time between classes.  Somehow I don’t think the classroom teachers have to even think about that, seeing as they see their students every day, but then, that is part of what makes specialists “special”.

Today was day one of 176 days I will spend with students this year.  One hundred and seventy six days to teach them content, vocabulary, connections, and how to create, perform and respond to and with music.  On a five day rotation, I will see each child between 35 and 36 times this year, 50 minutes at a time.  My list of essential learning outcomes is long, my time is short but it has to happen, so it will happen.  Another reason why we’re “special”.  We have to be miracle workers.

But just like every year for the past 27 years, I will find a way, just like getting back on that bike, to do what I do again.  I will work to get kids excited about music, about learning, and about becoming better people in the process.  Here’s to year 28 and trying to make a difference in the lives of kids through music.