It's Official!

Right now you are reading the blog of the official Afternoon Class Teacher at James Marshall Parent Participation Nursery School in West Sacramento, CA!

If you are not shouting "Woo Hoo!" with me right now, I'll give you a minute to do that...

Thanks.

I am very excited to have gotten the final word on my employment, and am ready to dive right in to prep for the coming school year. Last night was Parent Orientation Night, and I must admit that I was a tad bit nervous. Just a smidgen. And by "smidgen" I mean sweaty hands, shaking knees, and continual thoughts of "don't screw this up- this is your first impression!" On the bright side, I was not SO nervous I cried- which has happened just recently with another big event- but more on that later.
The majority of my fears centered around the fact that I am supposed to be the Teacher, with a capital T, but feel like I'm just one of the parents (with many more lowercase moments than uppercase, by the way). I was afraid that I would be unable to take command of the classroom, or to be seen as an equal with Mrs. Brown, the elder, more experienced morning teacher. However it didn't take me long to realize that it's not so much about how you see yourself, as about how they see you. I may not feel like an authority on children or education, but they see me as such, and treated me accordingly. It was not nearly as difficult as I had imagined, really not difficult at all, to establish myself as the Teacher with a capital T and to show that my influence would be more than just as another parent- or as a temporary substitute. I was asked about my achievement goals for students who will be graduating to Kindergarten next year, I was asked how I thought best to deal with separation issues, I was even told with confidence that one mother was sure her child (who has a sensory disorder) would be just fine with me but wasn't so sure that he would be successful in Mrs. Brown's class. I left the orientation feeling good and with not a bit of anxiety left. Now, I'm sure I will be on edge a little for the first day of school, but I've been told that if it looks like a Teacher, walks like a Teacher, and sounds like a Teacher, then it must be a Teacher.
QUACK!

Yours 'till I can teach a school of fish to read and write.