Where are Thou First Day Jitters?

Classes started last Thursday,June 16. I'm in my third year of teaching. And I'm still occupying the same room and handling the same advisory class. I love being a Grade 4 adviser. Welcoming tots from the primary level. Grooming them to become better pre-puberty kiddos.

This year is the year of drastic changes.

No more mom to

1.iron our uniforms
2.prepare a cup of coffee to awaken my half-awake senses
3.double-check if the spoon and fork is in my lunch box

every morning. This forces me to leave (and fix) my bed much earlier than usual. If I fail to do that, I'd end up having an empty stomach while racing against the hands of the school's bundy clock. The perils challenges of not having a mom or dad.

The biggest change this school year is the new set of people I'll be working with. There are more new teachers to befriend. That being the case, I've started implementing my OPERATION FC (feeling close). I'd like to think that I have reached my goals after meeting three new friends. And they made it easy for me to integrate in their established group. And now, I've started showing them my true color--

having a high-level of likable meanness

. I hope that with them on my side, all the negative vibes would be turned into laughing stocks.

It's a totally different year for me as an adviser-teacher because I didn't have the usual first-day-of-school jitters unlike in the past two years. I guess, it's a sign that I'm really growing in this profession. To put it bluntly, a sign of aging. It's a sign that I'm no longer like the main character in the book

(Btw, I read this story to my fourth graders on the first day of school.)

The jitters are gone because I am (already)so sure of myself. That teaching is really really for me. Now, I have fully understood the nitty-gritty of the subjects I am teaching (e.g. curriculum, approaches, competencies). Little by little, I am gaining the confidence and the desire to dream of becoming a textbook author or a curriculum developer. True story.

One of the things that really made me confident is the radiant energy that my classroom provides me. Here's a sample.

I'm now excited to do better this year. For God's glory!