The First Day of School - An Accounting

"The mediocre teacher tells.

The good teacher explains.

The superior teacher demonstrates.

The great teacher inspires." 

-William Arthur Ward

One of the joys of motherhood is being the first to encounter your child after the first day of school as the details of the day begin to stream from their little mouths.

The first accounting came from Jessica via phone call. All of her professors let her out early today, much to her relief as she was still trying to negotiate this new campus. Her yoga class went well. Her professor said that if they just show up and participate, they should have no problem passing the class. She did add one caveat, coming to class to sleep would not earn one a passing grade. Apparently napping whilst sitting indian style does not qualify as yoga. I'm hoping Jess can learn some good stretching and relaxation exercises to counteract the hours a day she will be spending hunched over a cello.

Her music fundamentals class sounds pretty hard core. She will be required to compose a piece of music every week. Yikes! She went to her keyboarding class half expecting them to advance her to the next class...yeah no, she's in the right class. I think she came away from the day feeling like a bit of a musical pygmy amongst a campus of instrumental giants. She was the big fish flopping around in a puddle over at Layton High. Now she is a tiny fish in an expansive ocean. Now she will have all sorts of room to flip her fins. The opportunity for growth is great up at Utah State. I hope she doesn't shy away from hard things. I hope she gleans all that she can from the big fish she is surrounded by.

I picked Sabrina up from the high school, then we went home and I proceeded to make snicker doodles while she ate cookie dough and described her day one class period at a time. She was the perpetual skeptic when it came to starting high school, so I was interested to hear what she had to say. Drivers Ed...lame and boring...no surprise there. The teacher informed the class that if you don't already have your learners permit, you're behind. Happy news for an already apprehensive sophomore who is currently lacking a learners permit. 

Orchestra...they have a long term sub who speaks like Snow White only ten decibels quieter...so lame and boring. Hopefully things will improve when she actually gets to pull out her instrument. Her honors english teacher is a football and wrestling coach at heart so when he referred to the class agenda as a "game play", Sabrina cringed. And when he used the word funner, it took everything she had not to proclaim...these were her exact words..."Mr. Jernigan, your vernacular is insufficient for an honors english teacher!" But she refrained. She is hoping that this teacher will not ruin literature for her as it is the thing she loves most about school.

Sabrina's favorite teacher was Mr. Connor, which came as no surprise to me. The man has been at Layton High since Neil was there. She first walked into the room and wondered where this alleged Mr. Connor was. She finally noticed a squirrely gentleman leaning on a pulpit complete with bow tie and button-up sweater, and she knew instantly that this was her man. As Mr. Connor began to speak, she knew that they were going to get along just fine. He warned the class not to scoot their desks back too far for they may end up getting cracked on the head with one of the NFL trophies perched on the shelves in the back of the class. A few jocks perked up, "Did you play football Mr. Connor?!" The squirrely man responded, "No, it doesn't stand for National Football League! It stands for National Forensic League. We had the name first. We get to keep it." When Mr. Connor adjusted his sweater, only to reveal a pocket watch, Sabrina was an instant convert. She is thrilled as can be for her World Civ. class. Today is B day. With math and science finishing up the day, she has already determined that seminary will be the only redeeming quality of the dreaded B Day.

Spencer tends to go with the flow a little more naturally than Sabrina. He gravitates toward his father in this respect. Sabrina leans more toward your's truly in the anxiety arena. So Spence came home from his first day in a new school proclaiming that this school is the best school ever and that every one of his teachers are awesome. Even his health and gym teachers are nice. We will see if this attitude continues once the novelty of it all wears off. He seems most amused by his germaphobic history teacher who stands at a towering 5 feet 3 inches and spent most of the class discussing the importance of fleeing the classroom if you feel the urge to vomit. Whether he knows his history is yet to be determined.

So there you have it. As the three oldest are up to their eyeballs in syllabi, Jonah is currently enjoying his last week of school. He goes off track this Friday. I fear the amount of gear-shifting I'm going to have to do this school year is going to burn out my mental clutch. No fear of ruts or ennui this year!