A Brand New Box of Crayons

The back-to-school sales have been in full swing since early July. There is something so enticing about a brand new box of crayons and markers that haven’t yet dried out. I remember as a student I would obsess about picking the perfect folder and pencil case, and choose notebook colors carefully. There was something so magical about school supplies!

Now that I am a teacher, I still appreciate the magic of back-to-school preparations. They just don’t surround the choice of a perfectly-colored folder these days. When the calendar pages flip to August, I know it is time to begin. Of course I am a little behind the retail world, but no less passionate about new beginnings.

I love the renewal of teaching, the chance to start fresh with brand-new school supplies and pencils whose erasers have not been whittled to nothing. The students are fresh too, eleven weeks of swimming and sleeping and sunning behind them. And everyone is a whole year older and wiser. Including me.

The plan book is a beautiful enigma. The pages are still empty, yet filled with endless possibilities of the year to come. August is the time for big dreams, before the minutiae of the alarm clock and paperwork take hold. And my dreams really are gigantic. I love to wonder about my students and who they are. I enjoy planning unusual activities to catch their attention and make learning enjoyable. And every August I spend some time incorporating some new technology into my lesson plans. This year’s version: wikis. And let’s face it. In August, every plan is perfectly executed. No one forgets their homework, the technology never fails at a crucial moment, and every lesson has the power to capture students’ attention. The reality in the classroom is subject to so many variables.

I always say that teaching is a career of moments. In a room full of students with very different personalities, the unexpected often occurs. Students (and teachers) enjoy triumphs, battle bad moods, learn from each other, and teach each other. I appreciate the interactions around me, the little inside jokes each class acquires, the way individuals come together to make a whole far greater than the sum of their parts. I marvel at what the students teach me. There are always insights I had never before discovered or talents that I can only dream of nestled in the students before me. There is magic in classrooms, and I am honored to be a part of the show.

And I think that students would be surprised to know that teachers have some fears about the first day of school. As the first bell creeps closer, the school dreams start: everything from waking up late to being embarrassed in front of a class. We take the time to carefully choose an outfit for the first day. We pack our bookbags methodically with our new school supplies. And we have trouble falling asleep on the night before school.

But beyond the highlighters in five different colors and the brand new lunch bags, teachers are focused on only one thing: the students. Growing up is difficult and we do everything in our power to make the transitions and travails easier for the students. Whether it is a smile, a kind word, a little note returned with a paper, or even the tough love of a detention, we are always teaching life skills along with our curriculum.

And that is why the clean slate of August is such an enchanted time. Who will my students be this year? How can I help them grow up? What milestones and miracles will we meet along the way? The pencils and crayons will dull throughout this year, but my hope in August is always for my students. May they become sharper and wiser in my classroom and beyond.