No One Is Perfect

As I sat down this morning and reviewed some of my own postings about the beginning of the school year (like The First Day of School: How it Looks in my Fifth Grade Classroom and My First Day Schedule of Activities), I realized that I missed a few things, and have a few potential behavioral issues and issues with my procedures that I'll have to get on top of this week, the first full week of the school year.

Something I've learned to accept after almost a decade of teaching in the classroom is that nobody is perfect, we all forget, we all make mistakes, and sometimes we don't catch the little things until later (if at all). That's good advice for anyone. Be willing to know that you can make these mistakes, and be prepared to go back and fix them. With my current group, I've realized already that they can't use the same procedure as my last class to use the restroom during the day, so I'm going to have to make this change tomorrow. I've also realized that they don't have as much experience with working together cooperatively, they tend to antagonize one another a little more than I'm used to, so I'll have to make this change as well.

It's important for students to understand and adapt to their new teacher, because we're not all the same. But to the same degree, teachers can't expect each class of students to mirror one another, we all must adapt. That's what I'm trying to do right now.

Of course, it is the weekend, and I do try not to let my job become a major focus on my home life (another post for another time). So after I've posted this, it's off to my family and my home time. Then work will be waiting tomorrow.