It’s my first day teaching juniors and seniors at Redwood High School in Larkspur, and I thought it’d be fun to give you a play by play of my day. Here we go:

1:16am, wake up. Is it 6 yet? No, go back to sleep.

3:37am, wake up. Is it 6 yet? No, go back to sleep.

6:00am, alarm goes off. Hit snooze button too many times.

6:27am, wake up. Panic. I was supposed to be out of bed 27 minutes ago. Lesson: 6am is early. Get ready.

6:59am, leave for work!

7:32am, park on campus. Locate theater, freak out on the inside.

8:10am, first class! First of 4 classes actually. Learn quickly after arriving that I have four classes with 10 students in each class. First class is sleepy, but then, so am I. First class also has the unfortunate placement of being my first class. Things weren’t quite as focused as I would have liked. We talk about theater as a medium, play structure, and brain storm about topics for their play. At this point I am amazed that this many kids are in one drama program…. And these are just the juniors and seniors.

8:51am, bell rings, first class leaves. Waiting for next class. Oh my GOD, they come in fast and crazy. So much energy. SO much energy. Still amazed at the quantity of students in this theater program. Second class goes slightly better than the first class, still getting my bearings.

9:13am, I need more writing exercises.

9:30am, give second group time to write up ideas for their play. Things are moving more smooth, this group seems more focused. I’m thinking that’s because I feel more focused.

10:34am, I doodle while my third class writes.

10:52am, excited that by this third class I am much less terrible. We don’t sit around once and wonder what to do next. Score.

10:55am, third class leaves, tell me, “Thank you!” and, “Have a nice day!” It’s pretty great.

10:57am, fourth and final class enter, and this time I’m ready! Kids are joking about pandas, I jump in and joke about pandas. One of them says, “She’s funny. I like her.” That’s right a teenager likes me.

11:20am, best class of the day. Wish I could have a before school class so that I was better with my earlier classes. Hoping keep my momentum of today building so that tomorrow first class gets a more focused and comfortable teacher.

11:28am, more doodles while they write.

11:50am, they leave! I’m done! Good times.