First Day of First Gradefrom The Diary of a First Grade TeacherFirst Day of First Grade and - as usual - my first graders are adorable! Each child is bright-eyed, alert, and curious. AWESOME! Anyway, I'm sure they want to know what BIG SCHOOL and first grade are all about. I'm eager to get started, too!
First Day of First Grade First Things FirstI have an assigned desk and nametag ready for each of them because I make it a priority to know all of their names before the first day is through.Right away Amy tiptoed to me, shaking her little blond head. "Here, Teacher," she said, politely returning her nametag. "I don't need this thingy. I'm a big girl now ... See?" She beamed with pride. "I already know MY name!" Then, a tiny boy wearing cowboy boots and looking like Sylvester Stallone pushed past Amy. He snatched off his nametag and threw it at me. "Take this one too," he said in a low, throaty voice. "Psshh!" he mumbled, "I can't read no how." The nametag flew into the air, and a boy named Loegan dove for it. "I got it! I got it!" he said. "It says Jo -seph. Yeah, that’s it ... Joseph’s your name!" What Did You Say?!Joseph roared. "I know my name!" And he kicked Loegan HARD in the leg.I said, "No, no! We'll have none of that... Are you all right, Loegan?" "OW-OW-eee!" Loegan cried. "I was just helping." He rubbed his leg. "MAN, them boots is so pointed. Feels like I got a shot!" Joseph snarled. "You ain't so smart 'cause you got it wrong! It says Joe Joe. Ha!"
"Sh-h-h ... Stop it!" I said. I pointed to the seat Joseph had been assigned a few minutes earlier. Slowly, deliberately, pint-sized Joe Joe strutted past us. "Get outta my way," he directed Loegan, who is a foot taller than he is. "Sh-h-h!" I demanded as I now escorted him back to his desk. Finally, he plopped into his seat ... And yelled to Loegan, "You big baby!" After a very quiet conversation with him about it being the first day of school and what I expected, he sighed, hung his head, and whispered ever so humbly, "Okay ... I'll be good." "Fine," I said, "that's what I want to hear ... and SEE." I patted his little back and walked away. First Day of First Grade ... They're not Shy!"Oooooohhhh," Loegan sang. "Did you see that, Teacher? That boy GROWLED UP up his lip and showed me his teef!""Turn around Loegan," I said. Now that Loegan was all right, I was ready to move on, and get the class back on track. Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at Joseph. His dirty little cowboy boots were so big they had fallen off his feet into the floor. Under his desk, his wiggly little toes swung in midair. They didn't even come CLOSE to touching the floor. But there he sat, as big and bold as he could muster. And wearing the snotty, smug look of a giant killer. "Yep," I thought, "I'll be keeping a close check on him ... That's for sure!" Suddenly, he smiled angelically and waved at me. "Ummmm," I thought. "It's going to be another (how shall I put this?) interesting year." And the first day of first grade had just begun.
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