The First Days, Year 11

School is officially in session! The first week is coming to a close and I’m just now getting around to posting about the first days of school. It’s always hard to break back into the teaching routine every fall. I’m exhausted by the end of the teaching day and my body feels like it’s been run over by a truck by the time I get home (after a HIIT or spin class after school as well). I’m sure I look like a zombie walking out of the building every afternoon, it’s so hard to be “on” as an introvert after such a relaxing summer of being “off”.

It’s been a great week so far though. I have a fantastic group of kids this year, for real. I know I say this every year, but these kids are so freaking awesome this year in both Physics and AP Bio. I’m very excited, as cliche as it sounds. We did labs these past 2 days and I was blown away by the thinking these kids were doing. So much creativity and insight, I’m really going to have to ramp things up this year! I’m also super thankful to be able to teach the same subjects for a second year in a row. It’s big, because it means I can actually improve my lessons from year to year instead of constantly running just to keep up. Now I will finally have the luxury to think about how to make lessons more exciting, how to build independence in learning, and how to really work at developing critical thinking and analytical thinking skills in science.

Anyways, this is what I picked for the first days. The first day is 9th grade only, so I did not have classes ’til the second day when my 11th and 12th graders showed up. My tank is not new here at all (I’ve had it for over 6 years!), but pretty much everything else is. My pants are the Everlane Straight Leg Crops and they’re really good for everyday use even though I got them in a size too small. A woman at the SF store told me they stretch out a lot, but I should have known not to go that small as I generally prefer looser pants now a days. I normally wear a size 8 and these are a size 4! But still considering I went 2 sizes down, they’re really stretchy and still super comfortable even sitting down.

The shoes are my new favorite sandals, the Mohinders Woven Slides. These sandals were my best shoes of summer by far – super comfortable, versatile, and ethically made, which is something I’m trying to learn towards more and more. I’m eyeballing getting a pair of their woven flats, but I can’t justify another pair of shoes just yet. These were a gift from B via Huckberry last December, so hint hint on the shoes!

These earrings though…a co-worker stopped me in the morning and said I was really upping the earring game this year. I secretly pumped my fist Napoleon Dynamite style when she was out of sight. I have my good friend Sara to thank for them, as she made them herself! They’ve inspired me to start a ceramics class this November!

earrings: a sara boeck original – tank: madewell – pants: everlane – shoes: mohinders – watch: fitbit

That second day, the air conditioning was not functioning very well, and I sweat through my dress every period with the nervous type of sweat. I’m sure you can all relate. The dress (and sandals) you have all seen before. It’s such a great spring/summer work dress that I have one in Navy also. Good to know it can handle sweaty pits without showing the sweat stains too badly!

dress: uniqlo – shoes: mossimo/target

the Seventh Annual First Day of School

Oh hai guys!  It’s been months since I’ve been around updating this blog.  The last spring and summer have been good to me.  Things went fairly smoothly in the spring and I ended the school year on a high note.  Change was on the way!  I decided to give it another year at my school with hopes (and determination) that this second year teaching in Denver would be 100 times better.

It’s fall again, and today was the first of two first days of school.  My school has 9th graders only for Monday, then the rest of the grades start on Tuesday.  This year, I’m teaching Honors Bio and regular Bio.  Also, I’m co-leading a team for the first time ever.  Exciting stuff for sure.  Also, we had a bit of an administration shake up and with that comes an opportunity to re-set the school/staff culture.  Everything is on the up and up this year, I can feel the positive vibes!

On a sentimental note, I’ve been thinking about the first batch of kids I ever had back in SF.  Some of them are now juniors in university and I sometimes like to stalk them on FB.  I read about where they are traveling/studying/interested in and I breath a huge sigh of relief that I didn’t mess them up too much my first year of teaching.  I was so clueless and disorganized.  I’m starting my 7th year of teaching this year, and I’ve learned something new and better each year!

On to the first of two first day of school outfits!  I picked up this cardigan/shirt/dress thing at F21 last spring.  It’s perfect to keep the chill off and add some interest.  I brought it with me to DC this past summer and my sister thought it was weird, but came around to it.  She ended up buying the same thing for herself near the end of my trip 😉7th 1st day3

7th 1st day2

7th 1st day

glasses: warby parker – cardigan: F21 similar – tank – uniqlo – skirt: jcrew – shoes: sweedish hasbeens