Is it really only day 3?

Although I want to start  out writing something other than "WOW", it is the only word that comes to mind!  It's hard to believe it is only day 3.  At the end of the day when I still had 50 e-mails to read and issues to take care of, I said "I wish I would have known what I should have been doing this summer when I had downtime."  It was another 12.5 hour busy day!  When I came out of the conference room at 1:30, after working on busing information since 9 AM, I was shocked to see the sun shining.  I left the building at 7:15, with only 3 other cars in the parking lot, the feeling of accomplishment and thoughts of what I still should be accomplishing running through my head. 

My day was filled with spreadsheets, discipline, parent meetings and more busing!  I can't say how thankful I am for the process mindset that I gained from Great Lakes, and my knowledge of spreadsheet creation.  This really came in handy when I was helping to re-create the "master list" for our students who ride the bus.  You never know when a new skill is going to come in handy. It makes me think that I need to constantly be learning new things and instill this value in the young minds that I work with on a daily basis.  

Just a quick run down of my day:

Todd had a rough day - good thing Brian is okay with cuddling!

• I started the day with a 7:50 AM surprise parent meeting - mom and dad aren't on the same page, and the child is definitely going to need a behavior plan.  . . . same child I met with on the first day of school. How do you fix spoiled?
• I had a screaming child in a my office by 8:05 AM and her parents wouldn't part their ways, even though it will help their child calm down. This is one crazy mom - she called and wasn't happy, but again wasn't willing to listen to any suggestions. People should be required to have an education before having children!
• I had a 9 AM busing meeting, which turned into me sitting in a conference room, creating a master bus list.  Thankfully there are good people who brought me bagels for breakfast and Subway for lunch. 
• I intermittently handled behavior issues with my same friends. 
• I learned details of a student in special education who is being suspended for fighting - is there a better school out there for me?
• We ended the day with all the students on the right bus, on time and organized!
• And to end my day with students, I received a handwritten a "love/hate"  note with grammatical errors from the mom whose daughter threw a temper tantrum in my office.  How dare I stand outside the door to have a conversation and leave her daughter in the room screaming by herself?

I'm sure there is a lot I missed, but the highlights are there. . . did I mention that I love the place and am so excited to be a part of a growing and changing school?

Off to bed...38 hours at work in 3 days has wiped me out. . . thank goodness tomorrow is Friday!

The first day rambling...

Wow!  I finished my first day with students as a dean.  I promised myself I would write about it so I could look back a year from now and remember the excitement, anxiety, craziness and exhaustion.  Because I woke up at 4:15 AM, left at 5:20 AM and was riding a bus by 6:10 AM, I am exhausted.  This may be short, I may ramble, and it may have typos.  There's an excuse, I worked for 13.5 hours, ate only a doughnut all day and wore heals!  Here's a run down of the day:

Just what we needed to start the day!

We made it!  My amazing team after our morning bus ride!

• The drive was worse than I anticipated, why did we have to have heavy rain on the first day of school? I forgot my boots,umbrella and had frizzy hair!
• The bus ride went smoothly - we took two runs, picked up over 60 kids, didn't get yelled at and everyone was safe.  Although, the bus was hot and my hair frizzed even more!
• We practiced procedures and I had everyone's attention.  I went over bathroom expectations and taught kiddos how to tuck in their shirts. 
• By 9:30 AM I had my first student in my office - a kindergartener who was being defiant.  After he stopped crying, I heard "Miss Bakery" - how can I not smile?  We called his mom and he went back to class with a simple apology to his teacher ("I'm sorry.  I will try to do my very best!")
• Ahhh...at 10:00 AM, I had a doughnut.  The Service Center employees brought them.  It's been years since I've had a doughnut, but that was the best chocolate covered doughnut with cream filling I've ever had!
• Other than the the kid who got kicked in the head, recess was my highlight.  When the kids asked me to push them on the swings, I looked around and thought "I'm an administrator!  I get to do this every day.  These moments need to be my highlight!"
• Lunch was a little chaotic - I opened trays, went over hallway expectations, and everyone ate, except me!
• We started organizing for our busing - WOW!
• I had a visit at the assembly from my same friend from the morning.  We had to have a replay of "I will try to do my very best." And then with another reminder, I heard "were you spying on me?" Yes, I was - that's my job!
• In a chaotic fashion, the kids all got on the buses.  Most arriving over an hour late, they were safe with their parents.  We learned that you can't make everyone happy.  You should never let parents change their child's busing for the same day. And sometimes no matter how hard you try, you'll never please anyone.  If you want your kid to ride in air conditioning, you should drive him yourself.
• My bus was the first one back.  I'd call that a success - I'm just hoping that the name of the bus driver that I've been calling "Mr. Steve" all day really is Steve. . . 
• My team is amazing - we all looked at each other, laughed and made a better plan for tomorrow.  Even if things didn't go as smooth as we'd like, we made it and everyone was safe

I learned that nothing should surprise me as an administrator - When you turn your head, a middle school boy may retaliate a grab a girl's boobs.  Some kids may say "You aren't the boss of me!" and you can say "Yes, I am!"  You may hear, "I am going to sue you." and you just have to be okay with it!

Did I say I was tired? I am, but I am ready to do it all over again tomorrow morning with a smile on my face, without heals, and a grab and go lunch!  I'd call the first day a success!