Finnegan begin again....

"There was a man named Michael Finnegan,
He grew whiskers on his chin again,
He shaved 'em off, but they grew in again,
Poor old Michael Finnegan, begin again."

Everything seems to go in circles. Cycles. A year ends, another begins. Finish to Start and back around. This is the theme of my mind's wanderings of late. Boomerang. I am back to where I started, and it feels very right to be here. I am welcomed with smiles and arms open (yes, and rolled eyes, but why not?)

My new school is my old school. I have a new room, with new furniture and old furniture. I have a new aide and an old one. I have familiar students, and unfamiliar ones. People to say "Nice to meet you" to, and others to whom I can say, "It's nice to see you again."

I have new ideas, also. Mixed with the freedom to exercise my old ideas, I don't want to let go of the new thinking. I want to push myself a bit harder, expect more and do more. Demand excellence of myself, that I might in turn coax it from others.

I'm excited about the new school year. This is a cycle, also. Teachers generally begin the new year excited and in a state of high anticipation. By October or so, the shine wears off a little, and we lose impetus around December, when we glide greatfully into Winter Break. Winters are often low and somewhat disillusioned, but with lengthening days, more direct sunlight and warm thermals come new ideas and plans, hope and challenge. We know what this year has brought, and we are already looking toward next, without quite relinquishing our hold on this one. By June, we release, and hold out our hands for the next year. New, yet old. Boomerang!

I am also oddly calm about this year. I generally get all worked up, wanting things to be perfect and smooth from day one, working myself into a frenzy just to be frustrated by imperfection. I already know the flight will wobble, I will be tested and tried and may even crash and burn. No matter what happens, however, I know I'll be back again next year and anticipating the flight.

Because it's flight! Wobbly or smooth, high or low, it is miraculous motion! It is learning, teaching, laughing, crying, worrying and hoping. It is loving a handful of kids who were made perfectly imperfect, and hoping to teach them a little of the joy of flight until they take off themselves.

Circles, cycles...round and around....
And so it begins again....