New Year...New students...refurbished me

If you are not a teacher, the fall may not hold any special meaning other than changing weather, pumpkin spice lattes, and the start of fires in the fireplace. For teachers, August means something else...the beginning of a new year. Each year, a new group of students enters the classroom with varying sets of baggage. Some are excited at the opportunity, others are already feeling grouchy over the new beginnings. I teach math, not everyone's favorite subject, and often students come into my room with a predetermined set of ideas of how the year is going to go. I have to audition for them, gain their trust. In the first few days, students will decide what they believe about their own success in the upcoming year. I need to convince them that I am on their team, that I have their success in my mind. Not every teacher feels this way...not everyone feels that the first days of school is an audition. Especially at high school, some teachers feel that their job is to instruct, deliv