Today was the day my career began. It was draining yet rewarding, fruitful yet barren, thought-provoking yet mentally draining. However, it was a day of firsts for me and a day where I spent many a moment encompassing the reflective practitioner deep within the depths of my soul.

The biggest struggle was finding my voice, which is ironic considering the nature of my syllabi this year. My goal is to allow students to use their voices when it comes to their own learning – to take ownership of the materials they are producing throughout the year. But, I had a hard time harnessing my authoritative demeanor … that is until I confiscated a phone.

You see, phones are not permitted in my classroom, and I was forced to take a phone on day one. It will never cease to amaze me how bold children are when it comes to pushing the limits. I kid you not, this student just blatantly brought a phone out in study hall. Dude, why? I did not want to have to be the big, bad lady today, but I set the record straight. No fear from Miss Disabella this year. Try me, children. Try me.

Now, I am all about making the literature learning environment fun and engaging, but there is a time and a place; my students will learn real quick that I run a no-nonsense classroom. However, I love to get creative and play trashketball and do escape rooms and murder mysteries. I like to dive deep into planning and watch as my students collaboratively complete tasks in an interactive environment.

I love what I do. Today just marked one of the most challenging feats I have faced thus far, and while today may have made me doubt my career choice, I never back down from a challenge. I will make it through the year. Of course there will be ups and downs – hopefully more ups than downs – but, I think this is going to be the best year for me.

Even though today was hard being by myself so far from family and friends, I had such a strong support system to wish me well on my first day as an English teacher. I received many texts and calls from those just as excited about my career as I am, which made my day so much brighter. The day may have started with spilt coffee, a broken copier (the only one in the building), and being locked out of the building, but I survived.

Based on the morning mayhem, I assumed the rest of the day was doomed, but the chaos actually made me relax. Once again I tried to meticulously plan a schedule of events only to be thrown every obstacle known to man. Like I said, I was locked out of the building this morning. My key – for some reason unbeknownst to me – did not work. I was forced to wait and contemplate life for 10 minutes before a coworker arrived to let me into the building.

Then when I attempted to make copies of a syllabus for my sophomores, I couldn’t because the copier is broken. Who knows when that will be fixed, but for now I guess I’ll force my personal printer to do my bidding for me.

And, only to add icing onto the already lopsided and burnt cake, my Keurig decided to overflow all over my filing cabinet. Whilst sopping up the lukewarm water before it landed in my teaching tote, I spilled my coffee all over my pants. Great start to the first day, right?

Thank God for wet wipes and Tide pens because if not for their immediate action, I would have had stained pants for the entirety of the day. But, it wouldn’t be a day in my life if I didn’t spill coffee on my person. You see, coffee still gets me through the day-to-day, and I forever grateful for my daily dose of caffeinated bliss. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s adventures as a classroom teacher. I’m sure it will be just as eventful as today’s antics. Until next time …