How Louis Armstrong Taught Me to Chill

Well, I'm still alive and I managed to get through this day without making a fool of myself. Put a couple of points on the board for me! Make no mistake though, I'm still terrified of what the coming weeks will bring me.

As for today, I was pleased to know that I will be granted a slow and steady pace. My cooperating teacher, Mrs. B. helped me to set up a schedule in which I will gradually be taking over lessons. Not quite the "throw the new girl in and lock the door" situation that I'd been imagining. The rest of this week, I'll be observing Mrs. B. as she goes through her day-to-day routines, and then next week, I'll begin reading aloud to the students and working with them on their daily journal topics. The fact that Mrs. B. and I had been corresponding for the past 9 months, along with the few days I spent in her classroom prior to today, really helped me feel more at ease. As for the kids, well, third graders generally aren't a very clique-y group just yet, and their immediate acceptance and love is something that I wish the world could emulate. Needless to say, I'm adoring all of the unsolicited hugging, and enthusiastic calls of "Hi Mrs. C!" that I've gotten throughout the day.

Not that this class will be without challenges. There are four third-grade classrooms in my school, and it seems that the whole group is particularly chatty, disruptive, and lacking in social skills. Mrs. B. has made it no secret that this class is one to be reckoned with, and that I will have to take a firm stand with them. I'm not sure what kind of disciplinarian I will make, but I guess I'm going to have to work on my stern face. Ugh..maybe a Darth Vader mask would strike more fear into their little hearts? I have very little faith that I will every create an acceptable stern face...even though I've seen many, much too many of them in my experiences as a child.

On a more specific first day note, the students started a reading unit on a biography of Louis Armstrong today. This might just be a sign that I've chosen the right path in life. Yes, I am a total NERD for Louis Armstrong. And yes, I did tell Mrs. B., who encouraged me to bring in music, AND the picture book I bought my nephew for Christmas, When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat by Muriel Harris Weinstein. How freakin' perfect is that? It will be so much fun to read that book full of skikitty scat rhymes to a room of eager students.

Call me crazy (and I would completely endorse you if you did), but I think Louis is trying to convey a message with his presence on my first day in the classroom. One that is probably truly appropriate, given my tendency to stress over the things I'm stressing about under a cloud of excessive worry.

I heard it loud and clear while the kids practiced their vocabulary words, and Mrs. B. played Louis' voice softly through her speakers:

"Be cool, little mama, be cool. Everything's gonna be alright."