Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the first day of school.

Why is it so nerve racking this year? This is my sixth year teaching, and I am not teaching anything new. I have my lesson plans mostly worked out. I am working on the letter to parents and a monthly schedule. There are a few things for Latin I need to get figured out, and a few more stacks of music to sort. But tomorrow is it - another school year will have begun.

Perhaps it is the changes that have happened at the school. There are new administrators. I am not doing drama. Families are leaving, and others are coming. My dad and sister won't be there. I have my own classroom, where kids come to me, rather than me go to all their classrooms. I have new students.

Perhaps it is because I am re-working all my curriculum and plans from last year. There were certain parts of what I did that I really liked, but there were other parts that just didn't work. This year I am trying to figure out how to reach the goals I have, but in new ways. I am realizing my inexperience and my need to focus on the next step. And rather than working really hard at one class and letting the others slip, I am trying to keep them all balanced. As well as balancing them with the rest of life. It is overwhelming and I haven't even started yet.

Perhaps I not feeling ready because this isn't the year I had planned for myself and making plans for an entire year is kind of scary because things change very quickly. So here I am trying to plan the year, but also focus on the next step.

I need a story. A story that helps me understand how to have long- and short-term focus. A story that reminds me why I am talking each step. A story that reminds me that it will all be ok in the end.