First day of school, take 5

Yes folks, it's that time of the year again. You know, beginning of August when all of Arizona goes back to school. Craziness, I know. I remember the good ole days back in Michigan where we started in September. Those days are gone. Today marked the first day of my 5th year teaching. The pro's: I've taught long enough that I can basically recycle most of my lesson plans, thus cutting my planning time in half. I'm still not afraid to try new things, hence my amazing class economy that Lauren shared with me. My team hasn't caught onto the idea of using it yet, but they will soon see how absolutely fabulous it is. My students this year are completely different...in a good way. No more fist fights, swearing, going home every night wondering why I chose this profession (yes, I know it's only the first day, but I'm trying to keep it positive). And the most important pro of this year...my new administration is awesome! I can't stop gushing about how wonderful they are. The atmosphere in school is completely different. Our principal is funny, easy to talk to, caring...I could go on and on. Both administrators have already made themselves visible in the classroom, charming the students and letting them get to know the new sheriff's in town. The con's: well, it's August, which to me still means summer. It kind of sucks hearing my mom talk about how she is still doing summer daycare and that teachers don't report back for another month. The second con: It's August. Which means it's scorchingly hot and the school ac isn't exactly working to its best potential. We pretty much have to walk outside to get anywhere on our campus, minus the bathroom or our building of classrooms. Imagine 22 kiddos sweating up a storm. No deodorant. Me trying to mop up my own sweat. It just isn't pretty sometimes. Either way, the pro's outweigh the con's and it's looks as though we're off to a pretty good year. By the way, how many days until our next long weekend?