There’s a particular kind of relief that comes with the first week of school. After a summer of juggling program schedules that seemed to reinvent themselves daily, walking back into a classroom with a set bell schedule and a plan for the day felt like exhaling for the first time in months. Summer is wonderful, but it’s also chaos in disguise — and this year, I was more than ready for the reset that a new school year brings…. mostly.
Read more: Jumping Back In: The First Week Back to SchoolOld Faces, New Faces
One of my favorite parts of the first week is the collision of familiar and new. Former students popped their heads into my room just to say hi, and I got to watch this year’s crop of new students shuffle in, unsure of where to sit or what to expect. There’s something really special about that mix — the comfort of picking up old connections right where they left off, and the excitement of starting brand new ones.
That feeling hit especially hard with my new Marine 2 class. Having a room full of students I already taught, already know, and already have a rapport with is a gift. We didn’t have to spend the first week feeling each other out — we got to jump straight into being a class that already trusts each other. I’m genuinely excited to see where this group takes the course this year.
Ditching a Boring Yap Session for Stations!
I’ll be honest: nobody, including me, wants to spend the first week reading a syllabus line by line. So this year I leaned into station-based activities instead, where students rotated through and, among other things, got to ask me a million questions about myself. It turned into this fun, slightly chaotic get-to-know-you session that told them way more about who I am as a teacher than any syllabus ever could — and it told me a lot about them, too.
The other stations turned out to be just as valuable. One had students dig into the syllabus themselves, annotating it with questions and highlighting anything that confused them, instead of just nodding along while I talked at them. Another asked them to think about what a productive, successful class actually looks and feels like — what they need from me, from each other, and from the room to do their best work. And my personal favorite: a station where they added songs to a running classroom playlist, which meant by the end of the week I had a pretty solid read on both their taste in music and their sense of humor. I’ll take a stack of curious, slightly ridiculous questions — and a slightly chaotic playlist — over blank stares during a syllabus read any day.
Helping the New Teachers Find Their Footing
This week wasn’t just about my own classroom, though. Three new teachers joined our team this year, and they were handed the reality that so many new teachers face: a full schedule and next to no resources to go with it. No walkthrough of our grading platform, no orientation to our learning management system — just a “good luck” and the hope they they can get logins soon. I spent a good chunk of the week helping them get oriented, answering the questions nobody had thought to answer for them ahead of time. It’s a lot to absorb in five days, but they’re handling it with grace, and I’m hopeful the rest of the year gets easier from here.
Missing a Familiar Face
If I’m being honest, the week wasn’t without its harder moments. My bestie moved into a dean position this year, which is a huge and well-deserved step for her — but it also means she’s no longer just a short walk away to a classroom I can bother. I found myself instinctively walking toward her old room more than once out of habit, only to remember she’s off handling entirely different fires now. Proud of her, but I miss having her right there for the day-to-day.
The Decompression Session
By Friday, it had been a full week — the good kind of full, but full nonetheless. So a few of my favorite teachers and I did what we always do: met up to decompress. No agenda, no lesson planning talk if we could help it, just a chance to laugh about the week, vent a little, and remember why we love doing this alongside people who get it.
Here’s to a great year ahead — new students, old friends, a few new colleagues to look out for, and a year’s worth of fun hands-on experiences and connections to make!
