Round 2

Round two has begun.  

(This post is a bit incoherent, a part of my warming up to get my writing chops back).

Amidst a summer of 9-5 grad school classes four days a week (thank you to the professor who planned her behind off making a summer class engaging. Not so many thanks to the professor who decided that reading off from a textbook printout every day, talking for 2 and a half hours at us, would help us stay awake and learn something), not a single day went by when I wasn't thinking about something I could do differently this year.

How will the expectations be strong and clear from day 1.
How will I convey myself as intensely caring and no-nonsense, while calm and able to connect in a genuine way.
How to manage my meticulous, systematic nature to give order in the classroom without betraying my past of serious bouts of OCD.
How to work with many of the same students I had last year, and be able to up the tone and expectations.
How to be a presence in the classroom and school that I want to be.

To say they were on my mind a lot is a gross understatement.  I had over a dozen "first-day dreams" in July, some great, some not so great.

For those teachers who will be wondering during their first year about whether it can be better- the second year is different:

In a high attrition school, kids seeing a common face gives them some certainty and constancy in their life.  It was amazing how many kids (particularly the gentlemen), wanted to shake hands in the first week.  I felt like I was on Cheers.

Experience makes a difference-Mistakes will be made in the first year, I made many.  I learned.  I grew.
 
In a plug for Teach Like a Champion, Cold Call, Emotional Constancy, Strong Voice, and the J Factor (stories in particular) make a big difference.

Consistency and planning are the keys to teaching.  If you want it, expect it always.  If you don't, address it.  Always.

Personally, I was concerned that looping with my class for year two into 7th grade would make changing the teaching persona much more of a challenge.  Kids have an interesting way of changing as easily, and it was surprising to see the difference.

The question now is, for me and for them, what else can be improved upon?