'Twas the night before kindergarten, when all through the house,
Your teacher was having a major freak out,
She'd done all her shopping and labeling with care,
Wishing and praying that you'd soon be there.
It was too hard to finish the rest of the poem with my own words, so I'm going to stop while I'm ahead. I've been thinking about what I want to say about the first day of school, and basically it's come down to an emotional, jumbled mess. I feel like all of my dreams are coming true!
Kiddos, I've been waiting my whole life for you. As a kid, I played teacher. As an adult, I play teacher. I sat through four years of college, learning how best to meet your needs. I have slaved over our classroom, making it look pretty and welcoming, so that you can feel at home when you're with me. I laminated until I could laminate no more, and I bought every Dr. Seuss themed-product in Target. I painstakingly wrote your name tag in Zaner-Bloser font, and prayed over our time together. And it's all lead to this... the first day of school for us both.
I know that you will be scared when you walk through my door. I was, on my first day of kindergarten, and every first day since. But I promise that there is nothing to be afraid of. I know that I can't expect to earn your love and respect on the first day, but I will be trying my best anyway. My hope and dream and prayer is that you come to love being in my room; that you make friends who will be your friends for years to come; that you become inspired to learn. We will do many fun things together--from playdoh to watching chicks hatch. You will laugh at some of the silly things I say, and I will laugh at the silly things you say. You will inspire me with your joy for life, and I hope that I will inspire you to work hard.
I expect that there will be a lot of mistakes throughout the year. Both on my end, and on yours. But mistakes help us grown and learn-- and that is something we will do a lot of together. I hope that you will have grace with me, and I will have grace with you. Sometimes you might not like what I do, but know that I do it out of love for you. I want you to be the kind of learners who impact the world and who care deeply for others. When you make poor decisions, there will be consequences. But please know that we start each day with a clean slate. You can mess up a million times on Monday (hopefully not actually a million!) and have a great day Tuesday. That's how we will work. As long as you come ready to be a part of our classroom family--and family is what I hope we will be.
You are a gift and I cherish you deeply. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow!
-A
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