Fifth grade is fun. I am loving being a teacher. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous at first. Well, who wouldn’t be? I was going in, mid year, to a class that had been together for half a year, doing things the same way every day. Everyone knew each other but me. I was going to be the new kid, but this time I HAD to make friends with everyone.

I moved around a bit as a kid. Not like military or anything, but we did move around til I hit high school. I was terribly shy, so moving did not help with that. Looking back, I could have used my newness to my advantage at times, but mostly I felt like a left out dork that was big as a house, awkward, and badly dressed. Yeah, I know, like every other kid in the room, I just didn’t know that then. I tried to blend in as much as possible. I was always very afraid I would say something completely stupid and everyone in the room would freeze, turn to look at me, and watch as my head turned inside out. It would look a bit like a pelican I saw at the pier once. It literally turned it’s head inside out. Amazing….and not a little embarrassing if you aren’t a pelican.

Now that I am full grown, and have realized along the way that no one really cares if I say anything stupid, but if I do….they will laugh…Life has gotten easier. I’ve given up worrying about what people think of me, unless they are my employer, and I do what I want.

Getting back to fifth grade, I couldn’t just go in and do whatever I wanted there. I had to follow a schedule, teach lessons, tell the truth, and try to reach every child in the room. It’s harder than it sounds…..and it sounds hard. Lucky for me, my students are all amazing, fun, and patient. I let them correct me, most of the time, and praise them for being so smart and catching the mistakes I make ‘on purpose  to see if they are paying attention.’ Its been fun.

Tomorrow will be our first parent conferences. Our school does these ‘student-led’ which means I get to be the hostess and sit back and watch. I have a feeling I will be talking to lots of curious parents though. My question is, should I wear my crown or my tiara…..I’m just not sure. I’ll have to ask the kids….

Cause I said so.

Photo credit: http://www.news.everestonline.edu