Monday, August 15, 2005

School's In

School. I used to get butterflies for the first day. Those lasted from the time I was in kindergarten all the way up to a couple of years ago.

I got them really bad the first time I stepped into the high school where I got my first job. As I walked, I heard some kids whispering about me. "Who's that? That's a teacher? No way!"
I've always looked young for my age, and at 5' 2", most of those kids towered over me.

This year my biggest anxiety was not finishing the materials that I planned to give to the other teachers at my presentation. It went well though, and I hope they learned something useful. Though I did forget how slow you have to go to teach computer skills. I haven't done anything similar with a large group of people in a long.

The interesting thing? The teachers worked at a speed comparable to the third graders. Not because they don't understand, but because many of them didn't exit their e-mail when I started, and also because their skill levels ranged all over the place.

I'm glad I did it, and I'd really like to do it again. Next time I'll ask for more time, and go slower.

I didn't get butterflies the first day. What I did get was a really great feeling when I saw written in the dirt on my window outside, "We love you Ms. Crowe!" Whoever did it wrote it backwards so that I could read it from the inside.

2 comments:

Diane said...

Congratulations on finishing your presentation. I hope you get a batch of good kids this year. It's an admirable job you have there, teaching.

carmilevy said...

My wife, who is a teacher as well, goes through similar feelings before she presents anything - to kids, to parents, to other teachers. She always hits it out of the park because, like you, she cares. She puts her heart and soul into it, and everyone knows it from the moment she opens her mouth and makes eye contact with her audience.

That's why you received that lovely message on the window. That's why the butterflies, perversely, are a good sign - they mean you care.