Thursday, August 14, 2008

first day of school...

Up until today they were just names on a piece of paper... a list in alphabetical order. The only information given along with the name was grade and gender. Who will sit in the chairs inside my classroom? Who will ask the silly questions? Who will challenge me? Who will make me laugh? Who will make me cry? Who will break my heart? Which ones will make me cry when I hug them for the last time as they walk across the stage at graduation? Which familiar faces will enter my classroom door again? Which ones grew up a little bit over the course of the summer? How have their lives changed? How has my life changed?

All of those questions were running through my mind as I drove to work today.

Today those names became faces. Stories. Lives. My students.

I absolutely love the start of the school year. (More so now that I'm not coaching.) Sometimes over the summer I forget how much I love my job. I love my job for the simple fact that I get to work with students. The roster that I get at the beginning of the year quickly turns from a list of names into faces that I greet each and every day as they enter my classroom. Those faces become personalities and with each day I learn more about their story. Their lives become part of mine.

I am a better person because of the students in my classroom.

1 comment:

Just Jana said...

What a great post. So true, so true...and so poetically (is that a word?) written. :) Your students are so lucky to have you!