I started the day on the wrong foot, and boy I wish you knew how ironic this statement became as the day progressed. I went to bed just feeling down, and I woke up feeling no better. It was a combination of allergies, a collection of germs gathered from 80ish kids that walk through my classroom each day, and merely missing Mr. Know-it-All.

I felt rushed once again as I bustled around my room trying to put a bell ringer on every desk before my hour of preparations diminished. I strive to allow my own creative genius to flourish each and every morning; it honestly forces me to open up my mind to exciting conversation starters, even if it is too early and my coffee isn’t quite finished.

While I have been arriving at school at least an hour early every day this week, I still feel frazzled and rushed and not on my A-game. What I still struggle with as an educator is the fact that everything is trial and error. Literally, every single assignment, activity, reading excerpt, and conversation technique is trial and error. Let us take today, for example.

Now, it is only day three, but I have come to the realization that my first period class will forever and always be my test class. This is the period in my day when I test out my original plans and then ultimately wish I would have gone a different route. This morning, I knew I wanted my freshmen to begin reading their first short story, “The Cask of Amontillado”.

This story by Poe contains elevated language, twisted themes, and a vocabulary list I thought manageable for this particular grouping of students. Because I have never assigned reading to these students, I decided to let them read in their small groups during class this morning. Boy was that mistake number one …

I have not assigned seats just yet; therefore, students have been sitting with their friends, and staying on task was clearly not their priority this morning. I moderated the period as I typically do, attempting to keep them focused on the task at hand and not the daily gossip. How there could possibly be gossip first period, is beyond me. Once again, I wish you lovely readers knew how ironic THIS statement was today. But, we shall get there.

Basically, I watched and observed as students attempted to read the story, and because they are driven by the constant connections with their peers, gossiping was unavoidable. Therefore, I let the antics continue, and I walked from small group to small group gathering as much information about their reading progression and conversations. Before students were allowed to leave my room, they had to complete an exit slip telling me the plot of the story up until their group’s stopping point without help from the textbook.

As you can probably imagine, their faces dropped, and they frantically began looking at their peers with that “deer in the headlights” stare. I even had a student ask me if I was going to grade their responses, and I said, “of course!” A goal of mine this year is to teach students reading techniques that will allow them to retain the information discussed or read in class. I will also not be allowing them to read in groups of their own choosing. I will craft groups myself, and for now, we will read aloud and discuss the stories as a whole class. You see, trial and error, and I’m sure I’ll revert back to groups throughout the year, but for now, we are trying something new every day.

While first period was rocky, the rest of the day just continued to go downhill into a rockslide of everything I didn’t expect or want to happen on the third day of school. My study hall was loud and inconsiderate of the quiet atmosphere their peers may have wanted. My study hall will be silent from here on out. There goes that trial and error again. I thought if I let children talk quietly amongst themselves that they would be able to handle that simple instruction; but, I have learned that silence will be best for everyone.

My classes in the middle of the day went on without a hitch. Students were engaged in active discussion using my random and weird Post-It note bell ringer. I love this method because it truly does give students a platform to respectfully express their opinions about the topics at hand.

I’m also feeling better about the ancient and medieval literature courses I am teaching. We have finally begun diving deep into mythological realms that will kick start our fruitful discussion-based classes. I am so excited to see how these students continue to grow as classical students.

And then my day took a literal turn for the worst. Remember how I said that I started my day on the wrong foot? Well, it seems as if that foot decided not to work for a hot second during my sixth period class because I turfed it in front of 11 fifteen-year-olds. That’s right ladies and gents, my right foot gave out as I was leading a passionate lecture about the differences between fiction and nonfiction texts, and I fell to the floor with a thud.

Now, I was quick to get back up on my feet. It happened in the blink of an eye, and after the day I had been having, all I wanted to do was cry. But, I did not let my students see just how much this major fall got to me. Instead, I tried to laugh it off and continue the last bit of the lecture. It was one of the most embarrassing moments of my entire life, but now all I can do is laugh because it is something that would only happen to me. I’m sure the news will spread, and I’ll have to face the gossip-stricken teenagers come the first bell. I already know how I want to handle the questions if they arise, but I’ll leave that tidbit for tomorrow’s excerpt.

Coffee was clearly not the cure for today’s antics; however, I hope tomorrow my caffeinated bliss does the job right. As always, my life is a never ending slew of ups and downs, but I keep getting back up. These kids or this job will not deter me from doing what I love, and I’m so grateful that Mr. Know-it-All is by my side to listen to me tell him my Truth About Coffee. Until tomorrow …