Mark Twain once wrote that teaching is like trying to hold thirty-five corks underwater all at once.
What exactly is a teacher anyway? A lot of different things. Teachers are like conductors. They try to get everyone to play together harmoniously.
Once in a while they may feel like the jacket on a popular library book – well worn, very touched, more wrinkled this year than last year, close to falling apart.
Beethoven was a child prodigy who changed music forever. Students have been learning about him during music with Mrs. Nelson. Mrs. Nelson taught the students that his formal education ended after elementary school because Beethoven was unable to write fluently and was only able to do simple arithmetic. After learning about Beethoven’s early life one boy responded: “He was in the Learning Pit!”
There are certain moments in teaching that I call Teacher Moments. These are the special moments that make it all worthwhile. They are golden. They are few. They come unannounced. And you have to listen very closely, or you might miss them.
Unfortunately, when the moments come, I usually don’t have a pencil handy, or I say I’ll write it down later but forget, or I simply wasn’t listening closely enough that day and missed the moment completely.
The first day of school is always interesting. Students sit down, nervous and quiet, trying to figure out their new teacher who tells them to be thoughtful to others, and use your time wisely, and follow directions, and raise your hands before speaking, and do not use the paper cutter, and ask to go to the bathroom, and don’t whine when you take out your math books, and respect each other’s property, and who know what that means? And don’t chew gum at school, and don’t exclude others from your games, and walk in the hallways, and don’t run up the slide.
Tomorrow, August 29th is the first day of Kindergarten!! Robert Fulgum has taught us that all we really need to know, we learned in Kindergarten. “Share everything. Play fair. Don’t hit people. Put things back where you found them…it is best to hold hands and stick together.”
A warm welcome to the start of the 2017 School year. We do hope you have had a fun and restful summer. A special welcome to our new families. It is great to see our new learners making friends and already settling into their new school.
Dear Riverview Families,
During my nineteen years of teaching first grade, I welcomed over 478 students into my classroom. On Tuesday, August 22nd at 8:45 AM, we will welcome more than 900 students to Riverview.
My name is Angie Killian. I am the principal. I have worked in education for 28 years; nineteen as a first grade teacher, two as a school facilitator, and seven years as a principal.