First Day Jitters

"First Day of School! First Day of School! First Day of School!" This is what runs through my head on the morning of the first official day back. For some, it's excitement and happiness. For others it's dread and moaning which makes me question why they're in this profession. And for a few it's nerves. 

Being that I am a preschool teacher, our center is open year around and only closed on major and bank holidays. However, our summer numbers are pretty low so the classes typically combine, many teachers take various days and weeks for vacations and the students are not where they would be when we are at full enrollment. Although the toddlers are kept on the "toddler side", our summers are much more laid back than our curriculum August- May. 

Come August 18, everything changes around here and goes back to "normal". With this change causes a lot of confusion and transitioning from class to class. Some of the children are not phased at all but others recact as if their world has been turned upside down...and that is okay because it is my job to help them get acclimated. 

I am a very particular person and I like everything in my room to be perfect for that first day. I start preparing all of my bulletin boards, student forms, cubbies, diapers baskets, etc. Well in advance. I like my classroom to feel like a home away from home for these children. I hang pictures of them at their levels, plaster the walls in their art work, have their names written in several places and just try to make them feel like they have a place here.

The first day at a new school, in a new classroom, with a new routine can be scary to some children but teachers aren't classified as superheroes for no reason, right? 

What do you do to make your students feel comfortable in your classroom? 

-Sarah