Brand New Day

Today was the kickoff to another semester with new students. It was exciting. There is a lot to be said about starting out with a fresh set of students. They have little perceptions of me and I can have high expectations for them. It's also great because I get to put into play all of the new ideas and developments that I have thought about using. I know I'm no veteran teacher, but even just having one semester under my belt helps me feel more confident in my ability to teach and manage a class.
Speaking of management, I had a management moment with a couple of my students today in my Communications Technology class. I knew of these students' reputations from interacting and seeing them in another tech class they had with another teacher. They can both work well and I have seen them do good work, but on the other end they both can cause significant problems by bothering other students who are trying to get their work done. Today they didn't do anything really significant, but I wasn't wanting them to get to that point. So I took them out into the hall for a little preventative work. I tried to be clear and let them know that I knew of how they both operated with other teachers and classes and that it wasn't going to be acceptable. I also tried to let them know that I felt that they were capable of good work and that I wanted to see it in my class. I felt for the most part that it was a good start to my preventative measures in my class with a couple of students that have potential to cause disruption. On the other hand they also have the potential to bring a different dynamic to the class that wouldn't normally be there.
Overall it was a good day - one that makes me feel like I would like to stay in the teaching business. However tomorrow is another day. For now I'll just get some sleep and get ready to bring it for one more day.