The Best Part

     Guess I'm bound to have this condition for the duration. It never seems to go away. The strength never dissipates either.  I shouldn't be surprised.  It is part of my identity I can't seem to shake.
     So what is this cosmic force? The pull to go back to school which is always preceded by going to a stationery store for new supplies.  It's been 13 years this September since I opened a school year and readied a classroom, yet the pull remains.  I think it has something to do with the emotions connected to one of the best parts of a teaching career.  The phenomena of beginning again is at play here.  It's all the "this year I'm going to..." stuff, .and the realization that last year's classes do not exist as entities in the universe any longer. It really is a fascinating condition and so short-lived that it's best to be experienced in full.
True career professionals in education find pure joy in opening a school year.  It's filled with promise and the pristine. Take the time to experiment with new seating configurations. View your classroom from various sides and angles. In the day before everything was computerized I used to show a new class my blank grade book.  Separate from my roll book, the grade book was only for assignments and completely blank it drove home the idea that nobody has any grades, any missing assignments, anything to be concerned about---yet.

In recent years, teacher work days give the opportunity to get the first couple of weeks planned in full complete with copies run off and an adequate number of seats for those classes that will surly average more than 32.  But dangers lurk.  Dangers that can be avoided with experience.  Next week, all over the country beginning teachers will make the mistake of thinking they can go to a copy room and find paper and a workable machine.  Nothing can be taken for granted.  Lesson plans should include emergency or contingency plans as well.  Assume nothing.
If, by chance you are an educator, and you find yourself happily anticipating meeting your new students on the first day of the semester, I have one more piece of advice.  Avoid meetings.  They are buzz-kills.  Oh I know you can't miss that group morale builder,  and perhaps a department meeting, but if you are lucky most everything else can be postponed until after Labor Day.  Speaking of that first school holiday, here's another thing to be aware of if you teach Seniors, and your school year begins before Labor Day  Most Seniors won't put in an appearance until after Labor Day.  It's just what they do.  So save that motivational speech and the class norms and everything you need them to hear until they are all there.