The Real World

Today I started my first day of Life As A Grown Up.  Also known as That Thing You Were Avoiding Throughout College or Damn You Are Too Young For This.  That's basically how I felt all day today.  Overwhelmed, lost, and confused.  Perhaps I should restart my mini-series of "Things You Learn The Hard Way".

Alright, alright, it wasn't that bad.  For those of you who don't know, I am teaching a creative writing class at a summer camp to middle-schoolers.  Unfortunately, the management is not quite as organized as one would hope, which caused a little bit of commotion this morning.  Those more experienced teachers were probably able to weather the storm and tough it out, but.... considering this is my first day with such a classroom, I was overwhelmed, to put it mildly.  Middle-schoolers tend to do a lot of blinking at you.  Younger kids you can fool with sparkles and ponies but, the older ones have some brains in them, and aren't so easily mystified by the magic.  You actually have to know what you're talking about.  And I do -- I've just got a few tricks of the teaching trade to catch up on.  Oh, and, I'm back at the bottom of the totem pole, of course.  Time to work my way up once again.

It's a bizarre transition to go from being too old for your collegiate world to too young for your professional one.  Either way I'm playing catch-up.  However, I have decided to become a sponge.  I'm simply going to soak up all of the information around me.  Luckily, my friend Laura's mom is an extremely experienced and talented educator, so I picked her brain over dinner tonight and she gave me some tips.  They came in handy today, so why reinvent the wheel?  I suppose it is a little presumptuous to think I will change the face of education with my one lowly day of teaching.

First days are always challenging, right?  It's going to get better?  Even if I have to grace the world before 11am?

Here's hoping!