The First Day

After many years of starting a new school year, it’s interesting to see my mind follow the same patterns. I make detailed plans with enough flexible periods for an organic flow of our day. I write activities to get to know one another in blue ink and a few energizers to avoid fatigue in green—colored notes=sanity.

I keep the chime by the desk, comfy shoes by the door to deal with the 12,000 steps I’ll take before 5 pm, and enough food in the fridge to keep my mind on the “Get-to-know-them” tab. We’re ready!

The thing I usually forget is how expectations silently take over before that first day. It only takes a second look at our “plans” to see the places where I might be pushing it. With enough compassion, I remind myself that what truly matters is for every student to feel at ease and for the group to begin building a community to support the work we’ll do for the months to come. The rest will follow.

This year, my fourth-graders didn’t get to write on the first day of school, and I won’t lie, that bothered me. Then, I remembered that we held a Morning Meeting, and everyone got to make connections; we learned how to play “Double-double,” and everyone laughed for a while; we explored the library and read for a while. Great things took place today. We can write tomorrow.

Before my day started, my direct supervisor (someone who wrote the most incredible short story during my writing institute in June) came in and told me she wrote the second part to her “Zapatitos” story over the weekend. Her last words meant so much to me; she said, “I’m loving this new hobby of mine!” Male, you’re such a writer.

Another thing that helped me feel good about my decision to sacrifice our writing time today came from one of my First Grade colleagues:

Hearing First Grade and Kindergarten teachers talk about their experience having a Writer’s Workshop on the very—scary—first day of school brought me so much joy. I can’t explain what it feels like to see writers, and their teachers, embark on this journey even with all the unanswered questions that are true to anyone trying something for the first time. Their trust in the work we started doing last year made me rethink my “To-Do” approach.

Now, my list includes things that can wait, something that might fail, things that might not look great right away, and ways I’ll make sure I’m kind to myself as I mess up and learn new approaches to teaching and learning. I am surrounded by like-minded educators who inspire me and remind me of the importance of speaking to ourselves from a place of grace; that is what I’m taking away after this first day of school.

Tomorrow, we’ll get to do some other things; we’ll keep learning the purpose of the chime, we’ll take some breaks, look at new books, try to enjoy each other’s company. And because I know it matters, on day 2, my fourth-graders and I will launch our Writer’s Workshop. I can’t wait to learn to observe the world in new ways, catching possibilities that only writers can see.

“Use your notebook to breathe in the world around you.”

Ralph Fletcher