First Day of School Over! 174 more to go....

Well, its official: the first day of school is over and generally for the boys and me it was a success.

First about the boys:
Anyone who knows our firstborn will recall that when he is uncertain, stressed, under-slept or anxious he can have a very negative attitude (phew--that's an understatement!) and this weekend was no exception. He bickered, argued, criticized, whined, picked fights...you name it--right up until he was in the playground this morning when upon seeing the first familiar face, HIS lit up and he was okay. There were only a few fearful questions about where he was to line up and particulars about pickup time and I was released ("you may go now, mom")--or was that dismissed?

Whenever I had a moment to reflect on the day, I had a mini panic attack: will he be okay? will he let others make up games but still play? Will he find someone to eat lunch with? Will he get off to a fresh start with his teacher? Thankfully, my fears were for naught since in the afternoon, I couldn't find him in the playground because he was in the middle of a hide-and-seek game with another boy and having a great time. The smile on his face made my heart relax for the first time all day.

And as for our social butterfly youngest son, he couldn't wait to get to school this morning. The only trouble with him was the weight of the backpack (his behaviour and whining reminded me of a certain 550 m Algonquin Portage where he sat down in the path and refused to budge--inspite of a canoe'd camper heading right for his crumpled corpse...but that's another story). According to him, the pack was too heavy and he thought I should carry it along with my own schoolbag, a purse, the overspill of each boys bags in Carrefour sacs and the bike I was trekking up 2 long steep hills...yeah, right--nice try!

So he went into the Garderie (day care) and hung up his coat with the backpack of pain and proceeded to greet everyone with hugs, high-fives and bizous. He didn't even run over (a wave only) when I called, "Goodbye, dear!"...I had been summerarily dismissed for the second time in as many minutes...Woe is the heart of a mom...but I knew he'd be alright, right from the core of my being, I knew it.

His end of the day took 10 times longer than his beginning, since he didn't want to leave without finishing his snack, disposing of his trash, kissing the attendants and checking in with a teacher (not his own) leaving the building--he needed to ensure his community would be okay without him, and that they wouldn't forget him until the next day when it would happen all again...wonder where this boy gets this trait? Hm......

As for me, this was my first day of grade five at the beginning of the school year. I lined up wrong, I forgot to dismiss the children for recess, I made a gaff in front of the new director, I didn't get the kids to P.E. on time, but other than that it was a great day...really!

Here's why.

For the teachers in my reading circle, I am being very particular about implementing TRIBES (collaborative learning) strategies in my classroom, since it neatly fits into our first project of inquiry all about being part of a TEAM. This started the kids off really well, and set the atmosphere very positively within the first 30 minutes of the class. The promise I've made to myself and to the students (because they'll always remind me) is to start and end each day with a community circle...to come together as a class and check in, to review our ability to work collaboratively, our emotional state, our classroom agreements, and to make statements of appreciation for each other (...those not tribes trained in my reading circle may be gagging right now, but let me tell you: when you hear only put-downs the entire day, you begin to wish someone had trained us as kids to give and accept compliments more concretely)! The process also demands adult modelling: making sure I treat each child with respect and recognize the effort they bring to class each day. It must have worked, since at the end of the day one child came up to me and made a special effort to say, "thank you for making me feel like I can make friends in this class, Ms. Rose!". I had to hug her, she was so sweet to say that.

So you can see we all survived...now we have set the stage well for the next 174 academic days...Not to be at all negative but the first week-long holiday begins October 24th...I can't wait...hm....will it be Spain this time? Italy? Morocco? Ah--the joys of international teaching!