New-School-Year's Reflections
Dear Diane,
September. For nearly 50 years September was a signal for me of renewed enthusiasm for the possible. Everyone seemed to enter the schoolhouse with new convictions for THIS year. It was our equivalent of New Year's.
For kids and teachers, the resolutions included staying up to date on our assignments and keeping our desks and bulletins boards neat and current; for teachers only, never yelling at kids. ("What, never?" "Well, hardly ever.") At home, I'd start a new system for leaving messages for the kids each morning and reporting on our plans for the evening. Each year my system ran out of steam after a while, but I consoled myself that five steps forward and four back still equaled progress. (Which was more or less what my history textbook had said when I was growing up.)
Yes, when teachers would rush together at 3 p.m. on the Wednesday after Labor Day they'd gloat over the great