Almost showtime

I had to laugh as I closed my door today, realizing I was the last one on my hall to leave school. I certainly don't want to make it a habit, but I also knew I was trying to minimize the time I spent at home on school stuff. And, I knew I wouldn't sleep well if I hadn't crossed (almost) everything off the list.

I'm not too nervous about the 1st day of school tomorrow, even though I have no idea how the bell schedule works (since there really isn't a bell) and how I'm supposed to get my kids to lunch or the bathroom. I'm hoping my lesson plan will last 70 minutes, and I'm purposefully not reviewing a bazillion rules & guidelines, b/c I'm sure they'll get enough of that in their other classes. I'm not really sure how my split 4th period will work ~ they have about an hour with me, then lunch, then me again for about 15 more minutes. I can foresee disaster on lab & test days, but I'll deal with that when it comes.

For the most part I'm more excited than nervous. I have to admit, meeting my students & parents on Sunday was fun ~ middle schoolers are adorable. (I wonder if I'll be saying that in a month or so.) Some of them are so tiny ~ I actually thought one of my students had to be in 6th grade. I already had to field one concerned parent's question about how I planned to teach evolution (which is the last unit of the year), and school hadn't officially started yet!

I'm really hoping the first few days go well, since I know they will somewhat set the tone for the rest of the year. More than anything I want my students to remember this year as their best one yet, to have fun doing science (no matter how much they hate the subject!), and to know I'm on their side & that I believe in them even if no one else in their life does.

As for now, my most pressing tasks are to find a) food and then b) a suitable outfit for tomorrow - classy, but comfortable.