My Big First Day--The Report

I'm happy to report that my big first day was a success! The butterflies left me by the time I walked out the front door (they were very short lived).


How great is it that Landon and I left together for my first day of work? We parted ways going into the building and I never saw him again, but it was fun going together and then discussing everything after we got home.


I snapped this self-portrait quickly as I walked in, and then didn't get to take anymore. It would have been fun though to have photos of everything I did today.

Everyone at the school is super nice, which made things very easy and comfortable for me. I had the world's fastest panic attack when I saw that my schedule for the day included 2 math classes, but luckily the class periods were shorter because today was a minimal day (extra early out) and because it was my first day I was able to observe.


Math has never been my strong suit, and when they asked me about my skills during my interview I admitted that of English, Science, History and Math (the core subjects) Math is my weakest. (I left the interview thinking "Oh crap, if this hinges on math I'm hosed.") I feared the worst but was praying for the best and it looks like the classes I'll be helping in are the lower level math classes with kids who struggle. You'd think I'd be golden in this scenario, but I haven't had to do 7th grade math for 27 years! Fortunately, by listening to the teacher's explanation I was able to quickly review and then wander around the class helping the kids, but it was a little scary there for a few minutes.

I got to help in an English class today as well and that was fun, though brief. I loved looking around the room and reading all the inspirational quotes hanging up (these are so much more pertinent to me now that I've got some life experience, I don't remember ever seeing quotes like these when I was a kid).

"Remember, happiness doesn't depend
on who you are or what you have,
it depends solely on what you think."
--Dale Carnegie

"One can never consent to creep
when one feels the impulse to soar."
--Helen Keller

I know this job will be a good fit for me and I feel so blessed that I didn't get that first job (that I originally thought would be the perfect job). I am energized by being around the kids and helping them learn, and I have always loved being in the classroom setting.

Along with all the nice faculty at the school were lots of nice kids. I saw many that I know from church and from helping to coach sports and they were all very nice to me as well. (I didn't know if they'd be embarrassed to admit knowing me or not, but they were fine with it.)

It was great that today happened to be a minimal day because that meant I only worked from 8:15-12:55, and that was exhausting! It was a good way to break me in to this new phase of my life and to let me learn that I don't want to wear dress clothes at school. I felt like I was tugging on my shirt all day and my poor feet were so not happy to be in church shoes for so long. Tomorrow I'll be wearing jeans and tennis shoes for sure!

**On a scale of 1-10, what's your comfort level in Math?
Do you enjoy inspirational quotes?
Do remember being inspired by anything in 7th grade?**

Comment Window Tidbit: It was a great first day of work, but I'm so glad I got out early so I have some time regroup a bit before heading out on a field trip with the Activity Day girls.