first day of kindergarten

Yesterday I headed back to my alma mater to teach Kindergarten. I had not been back since my last day of 8th grade, so it was interesting to spend the day. (One of my former teachers still works there!) Although I have had lots of EA and ECE supply calls, this was my first teaching assignment in a Kindergarten class in well over a year. We had a fun day, and it reminded me of the following poem that I wrote back in one of my university writing courses (having clearly not experienced the utter chaos and mayhem of a kindergarten classroom on the first day of school):

first day of kindergarten

the bell rings

voices sound in the hall

shattering the stillness

of the early morning

they laugh and chatter

as velcro crackles

new shoes squeak

and doors slam

you stand in the doorway

and watch

taking it all in

twenty students sit cross-legged

on the faded orange carpet

and turn inquisitive faces

toward you

they wait--

mouths slightly ajar

eyes wide with anticipation--

for you to say something

because this year,

you're the teacher!