'Twas the night before...

It's getting late and I should really go to bed--huge day and a very early start tomorrow on the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!--but I knew I would regret it if I didn't post the night before and record how I'm feeling. I'll try to keep it somewhat quick. This weekend I was very grateful to have my older sister Laura come and help me put the finishing touches on my classroom. I can honestly say I am so proud of it, and that if I was a student I would enjoy learning there. If I do say so myself. Laura was a huge help and I was sad to see her go on Saturday...not only was it lonelier, but the nerves started to set in. I allowed myself a relaxing couple of hours at the apartment complex pool, but by Saturday night I was already freaking out a little. Today, Sunday, I woke up early and got a good bit of preparatory work done, knowing that I was going to school this afternoon to make my copies and make sure I was ready for tomorrow. As the hours dwindled, I was getting work done, but I was starting to panic. I could tell because whenever someone spoke to me I felt like I was going to start crying. Classic sign of stress. Haha. And it didn't help that everyone who did speak to me said the exact same thing:

"Are you nervous/ready/excited?"
"Yes."
"You'll be fine."

Not helping. Don't believe you.
In reality I know that I will be fine, and tomorrow won't be as terrifying as it seemed. But I want it to be stellar, which is why I'm so stressed. I feel like there is so much pressure to make the first day perfect; in this summer's training I have heard over and over again how important the first week, day, even minute is and how it sets the tone for the year and can even tell you whether the whole year will be a success. At the same time, they keep telling us that none of us will get it right the first time, that it's okay if we mess up because we can always fix, change, and improve. Anyway, I feel much better about tomorrow by now, having finalized my schedule of what I would do and say when during each class. Now I have a plan to follow and I feel like I at least won't forget what to do next. My biggest fear is to look unorganized in front of the class tomorrow...or should I say, for the class to realize I have no clue what I'm doing. Later this week (hopefully if I have time) I will post more details about my daily schedule and my classes. Right now I just wanted to explain what the night before this first-year teacher's first day of school feels like. I'm not looking forward to the nightmares I'm probably about to have...but I will leave you with pictures of my room!

                                

                                                                                                    

My first bulletin board! The classroom theme is "Champions," aka the Olympics, but more about that later.

View from the door.

Corner behind my desk. These posters were all inherited from a wonderful 7th grade SS teacher who isn't in the classroom this year and lent them to me! On the cabinet is a postcard from my friend Jacqueline, something one of my summer school students made for me, a SC postcard from my MTLD, and my name drawn during a boring Institute session.

My desk. Those flowers are pencils with fake flowers wrapped on. Behind my desk is a canvas my friend Elizabeth painted for me with the C.S. Lewis quote, "You are never too old to set a new goal or to dream a new dream," my pin collection, and my cross country letter from Mercer. On the window sill is a picture of my dog Champ (I know, I still need one of Bella), and a picture of the TFA SC 2012 Corps at induction.

The reading corner! Leggy has been with me since 8th grade...now my 7th graders get to love him too! Poster from Kristen Blackwell :)

Laura made me this awesome pencil wreath!

My second bulletin board! The pictures of Olympians will be replaced with student work, making us the champions instead. Above you can see the sign for my attention getting signal...the BOLT pose.

"If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you." Handmade by Laura and going to be our class motto. The "track" above the clock is our class tracker, where each of my classes will track their progress on assessments and hopefully get some competition going to outdo each other.

Caley made me this awesome candy jar! I love it!