They should make T-shirts…I survived the first day of school…and…all the staff
should wear them on…the second day…as a badge of honor…
To say that the first day is…organized chaos…is misleading…because…it’s really not that organized…oh…it’s not from lack of…planning…it’s not from lack of…systems…in place…oh…far from it…the entire summer has been spent…determining…the best…most efficient…of doing things…
But…mysteriously…at about 9:00 pm…the night before…when the school is closed…and…everyone should be home…getting ready for bed…it all breaks loose…teachers resign…schedules need to be changed…rooms are suddenly no longer available…you name it…it happens…gears are shifted…and…Plan XYZ…is implemented in the wee hours…with no rest for the weary…
But…the school must go on…and…it does…bright and early the next morning…a line forms…of parents eager to…quickly…do what could have…should have…been done during the summer…
Of course…then…there are the students…who…even with a schedule in hand…have no idea…what they are supposed to do…the younger ones…don’t know how to open their lockers…the new ones…even after a tour…are totally lost…and…there are the little ones…who are learning to walk in a straight line…with one finger over their lips…but…still managing to talk…
Bertha…says…it reminds her a lot of my life…she said…she could plug…me…into pretty much any of those scenarios…from…being the one…causing things to fall apart…to putting off things to the last minute…and…becoming impatient…to not knowing what I’m supposed to be doing…well…the list goes on…ending with…I still manage to talk even with a finger over my lips…
But…the main thing…according to…Bertha…in my life…and…in the school year…is…that things do settle down…schedules become routine…lockers…AKA…new tasks…are mastered…rules are learned…but…most importantly…learning takes place…
And…isn’t that what it’s all about…
Jane
