Hi, fellow teachers, especially the newbies! The start of the year craziness is underway.

I unlocked lockers yesterday, lots of them, as I walked through a school filled with confused, new sixth graders. A few I failed to unlock and someone with a key stepped in. Lock combinations can be tricky. Remembering which lock to try them on also seems tricky for a few. I stepped into a funny dispute over which locker belonged to which student.

I listened to many announcements and picked out the ones I thought mattered most to emphasize. The open house matters more than the upcoming pep rally. We’ll get to the rally, but parents must receive ample warning for that open house, especially since many parents work swing shift in less-affluent areas. They need notice to change a shift or take an evening off work.

I promptly got buried in papers. The physicals and concussion warning forms are being turned in so kids can participate in sports. Other forms are trickling in as well.

Homework and classwork had to be sorted and will have to be graded. Motivationally-centered artwork is being prepared for walls. Stick to it, the work emphasizes, keep going toward your dreams. “You can do it!” Students design bold posters on this theme– maybe because they are a little afraid that they cannot do “it.” A great deal of semi-familiar and even unfamiliar material has begun coming at them fast, leaving sixth graders and others juggling as they try to keep up with the sudden shift away from the lazy days of summer.

Eduhonesty: I can get lost in papers. Many kids are certainly lost in papers. They will be more lost in those Chromebooks if limits don’t get reinforced immediately and regularly. Students WANT to get lost in the Chromebooks. They are itching and twitching to find the games and fun activities now at their fingertips thanks to yesterday’s tech roll-out.

A suggestion for fellow teachers?

Make a list, a handwritten set of items on a piece of paper about what matters most right now. I’d put students who appear to need extra help at the top of that list so they don’t get lost in the paperwork, meetings, more meetings and other bureaucratic thieves of time. Then tape that list in a private place where you will be able to see and update it regularly. I prefer paper to devices for this. Computer files and phone notes tend to get lost in the sheer bombardment of new bytes at the start of the school year.

Then find or make a date for wings with friends and coworkers– or nachos or tempura or whatever you prefer. You might have to be the first one to say, “Buffalo Wild Wings on Friday?” Everyone is swamped at the start of the new school year. If no one else is planning time for fun, teacher-reader, just tell yourself one more time: