Mandatory First Day of School Post

This morning I found myself somewhere I haven’t been in 17 years: Teaching in a public school classroom. A high school classroom. (Insert record scratch sound here.  These kids I’m teaching probably don’t know what a record is.)

My very first year out of college, in 1997, I taught junior high and high school in-school suspension and at risk kids. It was mid-August, and I didn’t have a job, and this was the offer I got, and I took it.

For the most part it was a nightmare that I was in no way capable of handling.  A lot of that was because of the adults involved, but clearly, I was facing a tough crowd of kids every day.  Some of them weren’t much younger than I was.  All of them were taller than I was.  It was one of the hardest years of my life, and I couldn’t wait to turn in my resignation letter that spring.

But years later, here I am, a very different person, in a very different stage of life, and this opportunity presented itself for me to teach a dual credit class to a group of kids interested in going into the early childhood field, and I accepted it.

And guys? I’m excited about it. I reluctantly accepted the teaching assignment, but the closer this day came, the more excited I got.  Granted, I seem to have a GREAT group of kids. And they WANT to be there. But this is truly a position I never intended to be in.

It was a last minute decision for me to be the instructor. The textbooks haven’t arrived. The students don’t have access to the computer software they need. I don’t have a key to my classroom. One third of my class didn’t show up because of transportation issues. And guys? I didn’t even flinch. I winged it, and we had a great first day, and I’m excited to go back for the next class.

1997 Janet would have had a breakdown over this fiasco.  2018 Janet took it all in stride, got to know these girls a bit, shared some info about myself and my background, discussed what they hoped to get out of the class, and actually had some fun playing a little game I made up last night.

It was of one of those full-circle moments where all of my life experiences came together to put me right where I was supposed to be at just the right time, and I felt so blessed to be there, and to be making a living doing this thing that was bringing me so much joy.

They say we make plans, and God laughs.  I planned to get a degree in Early Childhood Education and be an elementary teacher, and I found myself teaching a group of hostile teenagers.  I left teaching to pursue an internet business that went down in flames, and I found myself working for my alma mater doing a job in early childhood that I didn’t even realize was a thing.

I was laid off from that job, and I found myself doing the very same job three months later from home in my pajamas with my dogs at my feet.  I was offered a promotion in that same organization and up and moved to a new town while paying two mortgages and mourning the loss of my mother.

That job went to pot, and I took a job working for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.  Then out of the blue I was offered a job based on connections I’d made in the previous organization, and I crazily accepted and had to immediately jump in a car and drive to Michigan spending two weeks with new colleagues I’d met two days before.  And I adore these people, and I love what I do, and I’m making a difference in the lives of children in a way 1997 Janet would never have been able to imagine.

Wherever this first day of school finds you in 2018, I hope it was as fun as mine was.  I hope you continue to learn throughout your life, and I hope you grow and change and accept new opportunities, even if they weren’t part of your plan.

I’m gonna keep making plans.  And God’s probably gonna keep laughing at me.  But I’ll just laugh right along.