So, the inevitable has finally come: back to school.

The first week was tiring, as expected, as it will be for the rest of September.  My little first graders are actually a pretty good bunch so far, and I hope it's not just because it's still the "honeymoon" phase.  (*fingers crossed)  They are very cute and not to difficult to "brainwash"--er, I mean, teach...   Compared to my last grade two class at the same time last year, my little grade ones are already so much better, in terms of their behaviour. 

However, I don't think I will like to teach any grade lower than grade one.  Sure, these first graders are really cute but they're still so baby-ish and needy.  Lunch times are always chaotic with kids going home for lunch but they can't find/don't know where to find their parents to pick them up, kids who can't find their lunches, and kids who don't have lunches because they ate them at recess!!!  (I still have to remind them that recess is not lunch time, and lunch time is not home time!) 

But, research says that teachers always miss their class from the year before in September because they have gotten so used to teaching a class that is already extremely familiar with the routines.  This is very true for me even though my class last year was very difficult.  They drove me up the wall but I worked my butt off to whip them into shape.  By the end of the school year, they still drove me crazy but they had really progressed.  I also have to admit, I really liked my class last year because even though most of the time, I wanted to strangle them, I found that they all had character.  Maybe far too many DIFFERENT characters for one class, though...

Anyway, so far my grade one class is pretty nice, very easy to control but of course, there are a few "troublemakers" but they are NOTHING compared to my bunch of troublemakers from last year!  There is still a lot of preparations to do, which makes always makes September a very tiring, frustrating and stressful month.  It is especially so when you're teaching a new grade for the first time!  It's also really tiring to get the expectations and routines established with the students, especially for grade one because they are coming from kindergarten.  Luckily for me though, they are generally pretty high in terms of academic abilities, so it makes it a bit easier. 

I still can't wait until September is over.