By Randi Weingarten
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been seeing teachers posting pictures of their classrooms on Facebook, saying, “My classroom’s ready!” That takes me right back to my childhood, helping my mom prepare her classroom for the students in the waning days of August.
My mom taught second and third grade at Valley Cottage Elementary School. And I remember her ritual of using the days before Labor Day to ready her classroom for her students.
Of course, preparing the classroom — even back then — meant spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars out of her own pocket on supplies — just as her colleagues did and teachers do today.
When I was a kid, we were lucky to have a laundry room that housed the washer and dryer, of course, but also served as my mom’s office, filled with all the supplies she bought for her class. It was a treasure trove of books and paper and pens.
She worked so hard every year to get ready to open the doors and welcome her students. Even years after she retired, when we were moving my parents out of that house, the laundry room was still stocked with school supplies. And my own basement is still stocked with all my lesson plans and supplies from the years I taught.
That brings me to my own time teaching. I remember the first day of school my first year in the classroom. My stomach churned with a mixture of excitement and anxiety. Could I do the job? Could I connect with the kids? Will there be the chemistry to build relationships and get the job done, or will I totally flop?
As much success as I had had doing legal work, doing litigation, advocating in the courtroom or negotiating at the bargaining table, it was really different teaching kids — and frankly much harder.
It’s more than just knowing your content and what you’re going to teach. It’s classroom management. It’s the connection with kids. Can I manage my classroom without a hiccup? Do I have a good set of classroom protocols? Do I have all my handouts in order, all stapled? Will I know what to say, or am I just going to melt into a puddle?
Because kids see you as you really are. It’s like you’re stripped down to nothing. It’s almost like you’re naked, and they can see whether you’re a fraud or the real thing.
I remember my heart pounding as I walked into Clara Barton High School that first day. Will I be able to do it? Do I have what it takes to connect and teach and make a difference in the lives of these kids?
And for that same reason, the first day of school is the most optimistic day of the year. It’s a new start. A new chapter. A new chance to engage with students and colleagues. The dawn of a new day and year.
I loved teaching social studies. And I loved starting each year by teaching about John Locke and the social contract. That lesson helped me teach not just about our rules for the classroom, but how, in our democracy, we give up some individual rights to ensure we collectively have the right to live and prosper in a society. I will never forget teaching Locke because during that lesson — on my first day of teaching and my first time teaching Locke — my principal walked in on my first class. I can still remember how loud my heart pounded in my ears.
The first day of school is a little chaotic and a lot stressful, but most of all it’s joyful. And being able to hold that tension — anxiety and excitement, optimism and fear — that’s what I remember most about the first day.
I also loved being a local leader and being in schools throughout New York City during those first few days, seeing the teachers and the kids so full of that same excitement and anxiety.
And of course, I loved seeing teachers — whether they were 22 or 60 — taking in those kids in that passionate, wonderful way, and embracing their responsibility and opportunity.
That’s a big part of what always blows me away about the first day of school — seeing how it all comes off. Even in the darkest of times, even in the years of the biggest budget cuts, even with chaotic openings, the teachers and staff always pull it off. The classrooms are ready; the cafeterias and buses are ready; the schools are ready — because of educators and support staff. They’re the glue that’s holding it all together for these kids.
That’s what gets me excited every year at back-to-school time. I remember that anxiety and the energy — and our members’ tremendous commitment to make a difference in the lives of every kid who walks through their door on that first day.
What’s your memory of the first day of school? We want to hear from you — educators, school staff, parents, student — about what going back to school means to you. Write your post and tag it #SchoolHouseVoices for inclusion on our publication!