A glimpse into the future...

White, bare walls. Bumpin' oldies tunes. Yogurt covered pretzels and chocolate hazelnut sticks lonely in their containers. Three piles of paper: 1) parent survey, 2) letter home, and 3) syllabus. A young teacher in a blue button-down, wandering aimlessly around the classroom. Indeed, it is I.

Tonight was family night/back to school night at our school. Of the 80 or more students I will have, a total of 8 families swung by. I met energetic, bright-eyed girls, straight-faced, eye-contact avoiding young men, and a student who I am not sure understood a single word I spoke. My students will range from this last student, N., who moved from (I think) Cambodia to the US 2 years ago, to a private-school looking student whose mother told me she is normally an honor-roll student...sure mom, aren't all of our sons and daughters who somehow got stuck in the remedial math class...Kidding! I firmly believe, and refuse to halt my faith, that these students are simply kids who never were placed in a learning environment conducive to their building strong academic confidence. Many teachers in their past likely treated them with distrust, reproach, and hostility. I intend to create an environment where making mistakes is seen as a learning opportunity and not as something to mock. Where students are excited for tests because it represents an opportunity to participate in school when they know they can and will succeed.

Yes...yes...fair enough...indeed I continue to bask in the blissful ignorance of the naive, young teacher.

Give me these last few days.