Tomorrow’s our first day of classes and despite being asked by Eliot, one of our wonderful leaders, if I am nervous, I cannot say that is the case. I am beyond excited- ready to mold these minds and to challenge these kids, er teens? young adults? after all, they are my age, as they have never been before. I won’t lie and pretend that I’m going to be a nice teacher. The best and most memorable teachers have been those who have argued with me and caused me to be angry at myself for not understanding until my aha! moment dawns on me. I would love to be like them. Ms. Fiona Johnson in 4th grade English, Ms. Herrera in 7th grade Spanish, Ms. Saprissa in 10th grade Honors Chemistry, Mr. McFarland and Mrs. Dunlap in 11th grade AP Environmental Science and English Composition, Ms. Richards in AP English Lit…these are the teachers that challenged me beyond what I thought possible and it is from them that I hope to get some inspiration and somehow, be as awesome a teacher as they were. If I fail, as learned in TEFL training, always have a backup plan.

To prepare for class tomorrow, Reuben, Nick and I went to buy 30 journals for our 29 students. These will be weekly writing assignments, a way to have a different type of conversation with our students, a more personal one if you will. We each have ten students to write to each week. I personalized mine by writing the student’s name on the cover and putting little hearts over the i’s and writing a welcome note in the front page:

“Dear ____, This journal will be a way for us to communicate throughout the summer. In it you can write any questions you have and want me to answer or things you just want me to know. It will be a type of conversation as we travel- together- through the world of English. I am really looking forward to becoming your friend this summer! Go dragons!”

I hope we can start tomorrow on our right foot and set the right tone for a great summer of teaching and learning.

Until next time,

-Arianna (in pink ink, just like in the journals)