First Day Jitters of a Teacher in Grade 2

As the sun rays spread their warmth over OIS Newton on a beautiful day of 12^thJune, the doors of grade 2 burst open with a streaming line of beaming, curious faces of 7 year old. And among them stood this ‘new kid on the block’... not a flinch, definitely not a tear...  and on he walked into the room with great gusto and a fantastic display of his pearly whites.  I remember him blithely skipping to the front of the room, without so much as a glance over his shoulder; it was me that was left feeling out of place.

On second thoughts it was the most welcoming sight of a teacher; one that jolts you with a charge, good enough to sustain the ride ahead.

Zigzagging through the day we 2^nd graders made several stops for various activities. Be it the JAM (just a minute) session, Essential Agreements, Graffiti wall reflecting a sea of ideas and questions that put the teaching learning process more into perspective or the short story “The Kissing hand” (which was met with much enthusiasm) that students could relate and use to reflect upon  first day jitters. Some of us even let loose with play dough and the creations that followed through were awe-inspiring. Ultimately in the end, like the sight of ripe red cherries on a dark chocolate cake, then take away activities i.e. baskets made of cups and dice,  puzzles made as a ‘kissing hand’ to parents parceled in bags sealed with a poetic touch were greeted with big  ears and yippees and if I heard right, some “finally!!” too.

Amidst all the activities and strategies...experience was once again kind to teach or remind us the importance of the teacher student relationship and how far it can go in aiding the all around development of the several bundles of talent entrusted to us. Reminds me of the quote by authors Mawhinney and Sagan, “We now understand that higher-level thinking is more likely to occur in the brain of a student who is emotionally secure than in the brain of a student who is scared, upset, anxious, or stressed.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

To conclude I’d say is it a cohesive team of a grade or otherwise, we as a family of Oakridgers truly resonate in action what Galileo Galilei said,

“You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help him find it within himself.”

Here’s a look at some precious moments.