One week down, or one week is up?

What a great language, man. How can you use two exact opposite words to describe the same thing?

So the first week of school is over. It was a whirlwind. I got to meet all of the students I'll be working with in some capacity and eventually even teach a little bit.

I should note, for those participating in the office pool, that it was exactly 6 minutes into the first class when we were interrupted by a PA announcement. It took a whole day for the bells to stop working.

I have to admit that the teaching part was surprisingly challenging this week. I never felt completely over my feet, which is unusual for me. It was better by the end of today. I asked a couple of my students if I was making sense and they said I was, so that was reassuring. I don't think you can ever take for granted that what you think makes sense is comprehensible to anyone else. That's part of why I like working with people who ask lots of questions, because I can tell from their reaction if I've given them an answer that they can understand.

I've had a weird transition in my relationship with the school over the course of the last few months. I've suddenly gotten myself involved in all kinds of things directly relating to the running of the school. I've always avoided that kind of thing like the plague, because it can be a black hole that just sucks you in and never lets go. But I think I've felt free-er (how do you spell that anyway? "Freeer" doesn't look right) to talk about this kind of thing to people who are in charge of such things.

I think part of this is that I'm just feeling more comfortable with my place in school. Until recently, I was sure that at some point someone would figure out that I had no idea what I was doing and that they'd fire me. But it's too late, because I actually am pretty good at this by now. The other thing is that, through no fault of my own, a lot of people in the school seem to like and even respect me. Unfamiliar as that feeling may be (no need to get into psychoanalysis at this time), it's pleasant and can be useful if I want to get something done.

I know I said people like me "through no fault of my own" before, but I can tell you what I do. I listen. When I ask people how they're doing, many of them actually tell me because they know I really listen and respond to them. It's really not that hard and people seem to really appreciate it. Too bad I didn't realize it until I was 50 or so.

Sorry to get meta, but that was 5 straight paragraphs beginning with "I." That usually means it's time to stop.