First Days of School

The good news is I survived my first two days of school. More good news is that there were ONLY two days of school this week. The bad news is that I am feeling the hugeness of this task and praying very hard that I will live up to the challenge. I am so relieved to be more confident in myself as a teacher after three years experience at Royal Orchard, but a new environment ultimately means change and adaptation. I have found myself wishing I were back in the "comfort and ease" of Royal Orchard. Those of you who have heard my stories about my first three years teaching, know that says a lot.

Please don't misunderstand me, the kids are great. Not just great but FABULOUS. They are polite and considerate. They listen attentively and participate. Their parents are invested and involved. I am going to have a lot of fun with my middle schoolers especially. I enjoy grades 6-8, as much as I complain about it sometimes. My personal challenge, and where I am feeling overwhelmed is with the subject content. I am not as concerned about Ancient History (gr6) and Geography (gr7) because I have great resources and I can do supplementary research and prep where needed. My first shock came yesterday afternoon when I met my middle school and high school French students, respectively, and was impressed with their level of spoken French. In both classes students could converse easily with me. That was when I started to freak out. I can teach French, but when I realized the students are as advanced as they are I didn't know what I could offer them. I was given a course curriculum which I am very comfortable with, but they seemed beyond that. I came home feeling discouraged yesterday, but not devastated and dejected like my first day in Brampton. I didn't cry, I just kept wondering what I had gotten myself into.

This morning I was anxious when I woke up and nervous as I prepared for school. I was not worried about today because I had good plans, but the year loomed ahead. I found my principal to ask an unrelated question and as an aside he mentioned that several students had been into his office yesterday wanting to drop my class. He was quick to add that they were finding it too hard and were stressed about the year, so I should maybe consider easing up on the French for the first little while. I cannot describe to you how relieved I was. Apparently I misjudged the two classes based on the assurance and assertiveness of the stronger students. I am still not excited or confident about where I'm headed, but I feel that it's a lot more doable. The French levels are not well defined or measured for a newcomer to the school, so I am still struggling to get my head around it, but knowing that the kids and I were in the same boat on the first day makes me feel that we can figure it out and have a successful year.

I have the weekend to regroup and I am sooooo looking forward to a sleep-in tomorrow. Life always looks better when you're well-rested. You can quote me on that.


Miss Black's First Day of School at Dakar Academy.



My classroom is conveniently located across from the (air conditioned) office building.


This is the view from the doorway. There is no air conditioning. Apparently the class used to have good air flow, but a new building was constructed behind and has prevented a cross current. Rumour has it that maintenance may have an extra air conditioning unit, but it's not necessarily an imminent possibility.

My classroom expectations, the Ancient History board and Geography board.


The view from the back left corner. The "j'adore francais" section of the wall is partially blocked by a huge stack of textbooks.


The back of the classroom. The French bulletin board features pictures from French-speaking countries around the world.