School Begins

We have been in school for two weeks. The time has flown by. The first day of school has excited me since I was a child. I looked forward to buying new clothes, new school supplies and learning new things. As a teacher I anticipated the first day of school with wonder as to whom my students would be and where they would come from. This year I was a bit disappointed because I lacked the excitement. I wasn't dreading returning to work; I just lacked the usual level of excitement.

Despite my lack of excitement, I have enjoyed seeing my returning students and meeting my new students. I am continually surprised by the diversity in my classroom. Who knew so many nations would be represented in Roanoke, VA? We don't have large numbers of immigrants, but we do have a variety of nationalities. In my classes, I have students from Honduras, Haiti, Cuba, Mexico, India, Cambodia, China, Taiwan, and Vietnam. I am also teaching an evening ESL class at the community college where I have students from Haiti, Russia, Bosnia, Sudan, India, Jordan, Honduras, Morocco, Cuba, and Mexico. Working with these students is very fun and interesting.