First Day

It's my first day! (That's for you, Emily)
Things here are going great. It's true what they say about teaching- the longer you do it, the easier it gets. Starting my 4th year has been so much easier than starting my 3rd, which was exponentially easier that starting the 2nd, which was infinitely easier than my first year.
We just have 7th graders today (to give them a head start on things before the scary 8th graders show up), but one of my favorite 8th graders is here today helping out. We'll call her L. L was in my class last year. She was one of our at-risk migrant students. I kind of took her under my wing and did a lot of mentoring with her, and by the end of the year she was doing really well. I guess she's on student leadership today, because she's here with her polo shirt tucked into her nice jeans with a new haircut and a badge showing 7th graders around. I love her. She reminds me a lot of one of my dearest students ever, N, who passed away in a car accident this year. L is much more flamboyant than N ever was, but they share the same sense of desperate sweetness that makes me love them both so much. I'm happy that L is doing so well and that she's here today. I'm also happy she's in my class again this year.
Anyway, there are only 3 more periods to go until the end of the day, and 1 of them is 8th grade Advanced ESL, so it will be student-less. We also have an assembly, which is always funny and fun.
Hopefully tomorrow will be equally as laid back, if not as quiet. The 8th graders always come in with a false sense of bravado which makes them do and say noisy things, but I love teaching ESL because my average class size is around 18 students- 20 less than most public school teachers. No complaints there!