Round Peg Square Hole

I've talked at length about the great start to my school year last year, and I was truly excited to repeat the practice this year.

This. Year.

Last year, I took everything I wanted to accomplish in terms of routines, technology, and culture and scheduled them out so I could make a little progress in each area, each day. This year, with the expanded implementation of our Leader in Me program, we were asked to participate in something called The First 8 Days. This intensive introduction to the 8 habits of the Leader in Me program helps everybody in the school have a common language and sets the foundation for all of our kids having the opportunity to be leaders.

Don't get me wrong - I LOVE..... and I mean L-O-V-E this program. The 7 habits have absolutely helped me become a better teacher and, more importantly, a better person. But my awesome plan to start the year and the many different activities included in The First 8 Days just were not jiving.

It was like trying to put a round peg in a square hole.

As I was trying to do my weekly planning on Sunday I started to feel anxious and frustrated. There was so much that I had already done last year that I hadn't gotten to this year. There were so many things for the First 8 Days that I just hadn't covered. There was an email that a diagnostic test may have to be completed by 9/13. There was another email reminding us that homeroom teachers were to be giving our district benchmark. A pit was forming in my stomach. My amazing plan - my great start - it was crumbling before my eyes, and it felt awful.

And then I had another one of those a-ha moments. I'm sure it's nothing new to you.

Anything worth doing is worth doing well.

This Leader in Me kickoff? It was definitely worth doing well. And I KNOW how important my tech boot camps and routine building were last year. 

I don't need to cram them all together. 

I just need to take the time to do them well. 

I made the decision to simply do the First 8 Days, and if something else fits, great. If not, I'll start with my plan next week. The diagnostic? It'll get done. So will the benchmark. 

I only get one chance to really establish the culture and routines in my classroom. So I need to do it right. The round peg, it's going in the round hole. And the square peg is going in the square hole. And when I do finally get to start my curriculum, it's going to be another successful year thanks to all of the time we take to set up the expectations for working in our classroom.