First day of school and effects of monsoon rain
I have to tell about my drive home before I talk about school. Gotta love monsoon season! First, there's the stifling humidity for a few hours. In the midst of this, I was standing outside in the bus circle after school with 2 dozen kids asking me which bus goes where. Yeah, I don't have a clue, and I was never given ANY bus information. Still, we do the best we can to help kids get home, which becomes even more amusing when they don't know where they live.
"Does this bus go to Blahblah St.?"
"I'm not sure. What other street is it near?"
"Phoenix."
"Phoenix isn't a street, it's a city."
"Yeah, it has to go to Blahblah St., Phoenix, ARIZONA..."
"Mmmkay you just wait here and I'll let you know when to get on the bus."
I finally got sick of standing outside and went back to my room. About an hour later, it started raining so I propped the door open so I could listen to it. As I'm getting ready to leave school, the lightning starts. Yay, that's always fun, worrying about getting hit by lightning. So, I finally leave at 5:18pm, teacher guides in backpack to look over for tomorrow. I stopped at Starbucks for a first day of school reward (mmmm toffee almond bar) and then head home. It's a good thing I got something to eat, as it took anohter hopur to get home. I live 10 miles away. Streets and freeways won't mean much to non-Phoenix people, but still. Loop 202 was crawling, so I took surface streets. First mistake, turning onto Curry Rd, which narrowed to one lane and took 15 minutes to go a single mile. Well, I get on 202 anyway and it's still crawling, all the way to 101, which is slower than a drunk sloth. Not wanting to sit in that traffic, I go surface streets again. Well, Broadway is crawling because Dobson is flooded and police are directing traffic out of the left turn lane. Oh yeah, a bunch of trees on Broadway's median were blown over. Things are ok, aside from the occasional large puddle, until I get to my complex and see that my parking lot is flooded. I'm able to park in my spot, which is only sitting in about an inch of water. However, I had to take off my shoes so I could walk in the 8" deep puddle that is the parking lot. I was cracking up; good thing I wore cropped pants today. I took out my camera to document the experience, and just laughed at the cars having to drive through the mess. I'll post a picture later.
Oh yeah, it's a good thing I got off on Broadway because US 60 was a mess, also due to floods.
Ok, so onto Day 1. I thought that this post was from the first day last year, but it was the second. Still, the difference between that day and today is absolutely wonderful. Fourth graders are SO different from 8th graders! Even though I still have to figure out scheduling and curriculum, I'm not at all stressed. Last year, I was stressed to the point of not really wanting to eat and dreading each morning. Right now, I feel ok. I talked to the other teachers, and realized I'm sort of expecting too much from the kids, as I'm still in the 8th grade mindset, but it's ok. I can change things. It will be nice to slow down and be able to teach them.
It's only the first day, but I think it's going to be a good year.
"Does this bus go to Blahblah St.?"
"I'm not sure. What other street is it near?"
"Phoenix."
"Phoenix isn't a street, it's a city."
"Yeah, it has to go to Blahblah St., Phoenix, ARIZONA..."
"Mmmkay you just wait here and I'll let you know when to get on the bus."
I finally got sick of standing outside and went back to my room. About an hour later, it started raining so I propped the door open so I could listen to it. As I'm getting ready to leave school, the lightning starts. Yay, that's always fun, worrying about getting hit by lightning. So, I finally leave at 5:18pm, teacher guides in backpack to look over for tomorrow. I stopped at Starbucks for a first day of school reward (mmmm toffee almond bar) and then head home. It's a good thing I got something to eat, as it took anohter hopur to get home. I live 10 miles away. Streets and freeways won't mean much to non-Phoenix people, but still. Loop 202 was crawling, so I took surface streets. First mistake, turning onto Curry Rd, which narrowed to one lane and took 15 minutes to go a single mile. Well, I get on 202 anyway and it's still crawling, all the way to 101, which is slower than a drunk sloth. Not wanting to sit in that traffic, I go surface streets again. Well, Broadway is crawling because Dobson is flooded and police are directing traffic out of the left turn lane. Oh yeah, a bunch of trees on Broadway's median were blown over. Things are ok, aside from the occasional large puddle, until I get to my complex and see that my parking lot is flooded. I'm able to park in my spot, which is only sitting in about an inch of water. However, I had to take off my shoes so I could walk in the 8" deep puddle that is the parking lot. I was cracking up; good thing I wore cropped pants today. I took out my camera to document the experience, and just laughed at the cars having to drive through the mess. I'll post a picture later.
Oh yeah, it's a good thing I got off on Broadway because US 60 was a mess, also due to floods.
Ok, so onto Day 1. I thought that this post was from the first day last year, but it was the second. Still, the difference between that day and today is absolutely wonderful. Fourth graders are SO different from 8th graders! Even though I still have to figure out scheduling and curriculum, I'm not at all stressed. Last year, I was stressed to the point of not really wanting to eat and dreading each morning. Right now, I feel ok. I talked to the other teachers, and realized I'm sort of expecting too much from the kids, as I'm still in the 8th grade mindset, but it's ok. I can change things. It will be nice to slow down and be able to teach them.
It's only the first day, but I think it's going to be a good year.