Great Start to the School Year

A typical start to the school year for me includes many sleepless nights spent tossing and turning, wondering what my class is going to be like and if they will behave themselves. I normally have the back to school teacher "nightmare" that the kids are running around, screaming, that all my desks are missing and not one of the little rascals is listening to me. Then there are the stress filled days, spent prepping, preparing and decorating so that the first day goes perfectly smooth (which never actually happens).

Now that I am teaching LEAP all that has changed. I didn't have students this week at all, so I really didn't have much to stress out or prepare for. I got a full 8 hours of sleep before the first day of school, a HUGE change from the 3 I normally get. All week, I could work on things that had to do with my classroom or some of my other school responsibilities. It was nice to have the time to prepare, but there were times I found myself missing having little kiddos of my own. Though I will have most of the students in LEAP for many years in a row, there's just something about having your own class. I know once classes start next week and I get into the swing of things, I will start to feel a greater connection and attachment to my new group of 45 kids. But this week I have found myself wandering back down the 3rd grade hallway, chatting up the teachers and staring into the classrooms to catch a glimpse of what I am missing.

Good thing my principal wanted us to change our morning announcements and I had plenty to keep me distracted. I am now in charge of running a morning announcement program called KKIDS News. Teams of students act as the anchors, camera crew, producers and technical experts to put together a news program that is viewed each morning from the classrooms. This year, instead of simply filming a live news broadcast we will also be using a green screen as our backdrop. We will film in front of the screen, choose the image we want to show in the backgroud, and when teachers and students watch it in the classroom, they will see the students standing in front of our chosen image. It's a very cool concept and very innovative for an elementary school. In fact, I ran into a lot of trouble this week, because technology has never set up a system quite like it. I troubleshooted much of the technical stuff myself (which included MANY hours of trial and error) and finally someone from our district's technology department with a good attitude came out and made sure everything was working smoothly. So starting Monday, we will be going live with our first news team. Wish me luck...getting 5th graders to act professional might be a bit of a challenge, but I think I can handle it.