i have survived

my first week of school is done. i am so very tired. i forget all the little routines you take for granted at the end of the year that need to be taught at the beginning. like where to put your lunch box and where to hang your jumper and how to flush the toilet and what to do if someone steals your crayon. the answer is not to punch them, by the way.

i had 17 lovely 4 year olds enter my life on monday as well as 2 not so lovely 4 year olds. 2 girls are reading at an age 7 level while 2 others are able to do addition, subtraction and count and write to 100. 1 boy is so useless that i'm not sure if i'm capable of teaching him anything while another has never even picked up a pencil before and cannot recognize his own name. 2 girls haven't stopped crying since monday while 3 children have already told me they love me. this is going to be a fun school year.

another little surprise this year is that i am mentoring someone. i found out on friday that i was getting a student teacher on monday and it has so far proven to be quite fun. i'm teaching someone how to teach! ME! the canadian that isn't even technically qualified to teach in the UK is preparing a man to enter the world of education. it's all a bit bizarre. my deputy head and headteacher choose me for this as well, so i'm feeling quite chuffed with myself. his name is matt and he's with me for the term. during the 4 weeks after half term he basically teaches everything so i get to sit around and play with the kids. sweet! this is definitely going to be a fun school year.