First day of school! First day of school!

Holy cow, they are putting me in front of real kids tomorrow.

Earlier tonight someone was taking videos of different TFA corp members preparing for the day. They came to me and asked "How do you feel about your first day tomorrow?" My initial thought was "Get that camera out of my face," but I figured I should play along in the spirit of things, and because I was in the middle of the Resource Center which looks like a Kindergarten room. Instead I responded "Excited to meet my first students ever!" It was bright, politically-correct, and hopeful. Everything a first teacher should say. It is true, I am incredibly excited to meet my first students, but I'm also scared to death. I'm teaching middle school students math at an inner-city school. Let's take a moment and think about the realities of that situation.

My lesson plans are ready for the next two days, with the third day only missing some posters with the steps to converting fractions into percents. I have my speech prepared to introduce myself (as Ms. Lyons!). I have a behavioral management program somewhat well-though-out. I've even got some sports-themed motivational posters to get my "mathletes" inspired. On a scale of one to OCD, I'm at about 8.5 right now. I've done everything in my power to prepare myself. Now it's time to jump into the deep end!