It's that time again... the first day of school for teachers is two weeks from tomorrow, and the first day for students is two weeks from Thursday. So of course, I am making introductory slides galore.
I kind of hate the first couple of days of school. It's kind of awkward, and repetitive, and expectations blah blah and routines blah blah and important stuff, just not the most engaging. I have tried different things over the years to make it more engaging, but it always feels like, good gracious when can we just get into the learning?
So this year, I am going to just get into it. The first day I am going to designate as a Welcome Back, Getting to Know Each Other, What Do You Need to be Successful, kind of low-key day, and then the second day is going to be the routines and expectations and grade policies and blah blah but cut way back so it's not so godawful boring.
I need to make the slideshow about me for both my English classes (two sections of 12:1+1), my social studies class (12:1+1), and the ICT (Integrated Co-Taught) social studies class. I think I won't do one for Core Support, which is like a study skills/progress monitoring/reteaching/social skills period, because they will have seen things all freaking day in those other classes, but I think I will do some sort of low-key quiz game about it.
The slideshows I do for my own classes are pretty easy -- I talk about my interests, my family, and maybe a fun fact or two.
It's the co-taught section that makes me feel a little anxious, because the general education teacher is VERY family-forward and has probably 5 slides about family (kids! weddings! grandkids! dogs!) and one slide about interests, and I always feel like my life is kind of...boring in contrast.
Well, that's how I feel, at least. It's not true -- I have a fairly un-boring life, but somehow in the face of giant family reunions and grandbabies on laps and large group family outings, it's like ALL THE THINGS and then QUIET MICROCOSM LIFE.
Probably some difficulty this year stems from the fact that my summer was, frankly, on the boring side. My main job was to heal. I do have those cool knee x-rays, and a giant stack of books I read and puzzles I did. And some photographic evidence that I can go on a fairly decent walk now, on a mostly flat trail.
Anyway, this time of year makes me feel a little of that comparison nonsense as everyone shares their pictures of kids and busy hectic lives. It's too bad that I can't really put out there pictures of me in pajamas all day or drinking wine out on the deck, ha. I am eternally grateful that we no longer have the staff slideshow that is a parade of weddings and babies and fancy trips, that tends to feel awful for people who had a more, um, traumatic summer (like my friend who spent her summer getting divorced and dismantling/re-mantling her life), or who for whatever reason didn't do anything too terribly exciting. That slideshow used to make me horribly sad, and then when I'd made peace that I'd never have kids in the slideshow I made a point to take utterly ridiculous photos for the slideshow (one of my favorites below):
I guess there's still time to figure out something kooky for at least one of my slideshows... and actually, I got distracted and started going through my photos from this summer just now. There's a lot of fun little things, quiet things, but photos that point to a full and beautiful life. Without kids or grandkids.
Good luck with back to school! Interesting that teachers show slideshows. I've never done that, nor has anyone else I know mentioned such a thing. I might briefly tell the kids something about myself (whatever comes to mind in the moment) but other than that we get to know each a bit at a time throughout the year. The kids I like might get to see a few family photos on my phone throughout the year LOL. I like your "kooky" photos! I would get super bored watching someone's "highlights" reel too.
ReplyDeleteAs a kid (and now as a CNBC adult), I didn't (and don't) particularly care to hear about other people's children and families. It's boring and unoriginal. I would have been (and am) much more interested in what people like to do for fun.
ReplyDeletePlus, I feel like our overworked and underpaid society is experiencing a dearth in leisure activities. So many kids only see adults drinking alcohol, scrolling on phones, and not much else. I think it's invaluable that you share about your very full and very fun and interesting life. You are inspiring kids; they need more role models--happy, well-adjusted adults that have healthy hobbies and an identity outside of parenting.
Your sense of humor, resilience, and authenticity makes for a unique kind of teacher. How lucky are the students who end up in your classes. That pic is everything!
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