First Day of School Part Two

     Today was my first day of school of the new year. I worked Monday, but that doesn't count, there were students today. I was ready to go and excited for the year! I knew what I was doing and was going to be working with some great people. There were some tricky bits, but I knew I could figure it all out sooner or later. 

      Then I got to school and I found out almost right away that my schedule was changed! Ack! I had a 1st period math for personal finance class that I knew was the same so I had to run around and try to figure out the rest. One of the new teachers was absent so I was already set to cover her second and third period classes (not classes I am normally in). So I had to figure everything out before the first bell rang. 

    OK. 

    So I went to guidance and found the counselor I needed and found out where I needed to be and when and, for the most part, I knew what was going on for the day. I went to see if I could find some school friends quickly before I needed to get to class. 

    I found Nicole, who is one of my favorite people at LHS. She was the first person I worked with when I was hired full time and she helped me learn how to do my job. I worked with her for two amazing years. We make an excellent team. Maybe someday I will get to work with her again. 

     I stopped in to see my friend Adelei, who is the cooking and nutrition teacher. She and I have never worked together but she was always super friendly so I would chat with her often. Then I ran into her in Joann's one afternoon, we got into a conversation about a project she was working on, which I knew Ethan could help with (a big stencil) and we have been friends ever since. She and I made low carb pizza on the last day of school last year and shared it with other low-carb and gluten free friends. 

     After that I was completely out of time to find people. The first day of school is wild. Everything will settle down into routine soon enough. My first period class is math for personal finance and the group is awesome! I have never worked with the teacher before, but he is another I have said hi to often in the halls. He seems like he will be really great to work with. And the kids seem like a really great group. I already knew 8 out of 10 of them. Learning the other 2 names shouldn't be too hard. I am super bad with learning names sometimes. 

     My next class that I have all the time is anatomy and physiology, the teacher is awesome, and he can adjust his lesson plan on the fly and make it sound like it was always meant to be that way. I gave him a small tip about one of the students and he adjusted the lesson in a way that was inclusive to everyone and seemed very natural. I can definitely see that being a fun class. And I really enjoy learning things about the human body (bones are my favorite!). The class after that is British literature and the teacher is not the one I thought I was going to be working with, but he's pretty great. Elecktra had him when she was in school and she had so many great things to say about him. I am also with a different math teacher than I thought, but she and I met officially at the holiday party last December and have been friendly ever since. She has a giant coloring page on her wall and the end of last year I spent all of 1st period one day in there working on it. 

     The first day of school is always a little weird. I was zombie-tired and struggling to remember certain things. I played getting-to-know-you so many times today, even in the classes I am not normally in. It's a good way to help the students ease into school, learn each other's names (if they don't already know) and get to know a little bit about each other and me. Even kids that have known me for 4 years didn't know some of the stuff I shared. And they all seem to think it's cool that I have tattoos done by my husband and make dolls for model horse collectors. I am hoping it will be a good year. We're off to a good start!

    Even though I was ridiculously tired when I got home I worked on finishing a casual/working doll that was close to done. She will come with chaps, but those are in the closet. I have another week and a half to get as much done as I can and I will get stuff sent off to Fabian to sell at The Jennifer Show. 

     Travis doesn't have school on Friday so I need to take that off. Monday is Labor Day so I will have a 4 day weekend. I can hopefully get a good chunk of dollwork done over the weekend. But hopefully also get out and enjoy some of the weekend. I still have clothes ready for 2 saddleseat dolls and a showmanship doll. And the bodies are prepped and the heads are haired, though the faces need to be painted. Hopefully I can get super motivated and get something worked on, or finished, tomorrow afternoon. I have a sort of last minute order for The Jennifer Show, but it's not complex and there is still time. I need to do a bit more to a body to get it ready for this one. But it's not overly complex. I should be able to get that one worked on, and finished, by the end of next week as well. 
     School things seem like they will be great this year. And doll things are still going well. I am working with great people and I don't think I will have any of the issues I had last year. The classes I am helping in are interesting to me, other than calculus, but I love watching kids that are super good at math do their thing. I am hopeful that this year will get me back to loving teaching. I really need that.