The White Elephants in the Room
The first day of school is not just a milestone for students, but for teachers as well. While an administrator once told me a successful first day for students is to, “…get them in, feed them lunch, and get them on the correct bus home,” a successful first day for students in 2025 may have a bit more substance.
What many students don’t realize is for a school and a classroom to be ready for the first day, it takes days and even weeks of preparation by teachers, administrators and custodians, and does not just magically happen. The first official day for teachers is often a day or two prior to the students’ arrival, and after the initial excitement of seeing colleagues after a two-month hiatus and the inevitable discussions of how fast the summer seemed to go again this year, the routine of the opening day meetings, information packets, schedules and meeting new staff falls into place.
Early in my teaching career, we arrived at the school on the faculty first day to find three networked personal computers in each classroom. While computer labs had been in schools for over a decade, having a personal computer in the classroom was a bit of a novelty.
But once the novelty wore off, the practical questions arose: “With a class of over 20 students, how do we use the computers?” “What software is available on the network?” “Can we rotate students through the computers on some kind of schedule?” Turned out, few of these options were practical.
Fair to say, some more seasoned members of the faculty deduced this issue right away, and one member of the English Department asked loudly in our first meeting, “What are those white elephants doing in the back of my room?”
I think we all knew computers would someday become more of a presence in the classroom, but on that day, none of us could have foreseen the impact computers would have on education.
For many students, computers are a way to help keep up with what is going on in the classroom. Effective usage combines lessons for students with exercises and personalized instruction for each student, allowing the teacher to move about the room teaching one-on-one or in small groups, helping to facilitate comprehension. Students who move through material faster than others can advance more quickly and sometimes further than their peers, while students who need extra attention can receive it without disrupting others in the class.
The impact of technology in the classroom began for us on that fateful first day in the late 1990’s. As it turned out, the “white elephants in the back of the room” were just that: valuable instruments but without any practical classroom usage to help engage students three at a time. But on that day, a glimpse of the future was before our eyes, and I think we all knew technology in education would only keep advancing. However, on that first day of school, it was hard to see the future with the white elephants standing in the way.
–Greg Cunningham, JFYNet blended learning specialist
My Lifelong Friend
Like many students, I went to the same school from kindergarten through grade 5. The building was old, and in those days, schools didn’t have the same historic protections. Ours was across the street from the Hilton Hotel, and when the hotel wanted us to go, they successfully lobbied to close the school.
So, in 6th grade, I was transferred to a much larger middle school.
I remember that first day so clearly. My old school had been small and familiar, but now I was standing in a huge schoolyard full of kids I didn’t know. As my friend and I walked toward the lines for our new homerooms, I felt completely overwhelmed.
That day, though, something happened that changed my life: I met my best friend. She has been like the sister I never had, and she is still an important part of my life.
Although we went to different high schools, we stayed close. We’ve shared so many milestones—marriages, divorces, and, heartbreakingly, the loss of our husbands within months of each other to the same illness. Through it all, our friendship has been unwavering.
Life brings many unexpected turns, but one of the steadiest anchors in my life has been having a true lifelong friend.
–Joan Reissman, JFYNet blended learning specialist
Trapper Keeper Season
Every September the air in school changes—fresh floor wax, sharpened pencils, paper that still crackles when you turn it. That feeling was never stronger than in fifth grade, the year of my kitten Trapper Keeper, when we stepped into middle school.
Up through fourth grade, school had meant one room, one teacher, one steady rhythm. Fifth grade arrived with a bell schedule, hall passes—and lockers. Not the mysterious spin-the-dial kind; ours weren’t allowed to lock. They were thin metal doors with vents and a clattery latch, more like public shelves than private vaults. Still, they felt official. I taped my schedule inside and stood two pencils at attention like guards.
That was also the year we were sorted into two Houses, and I landed in House B. Our currency was “Plugs”—little rewards for good work, kindness, and quick answers. No one tracked them for us; you had to hold onto your own. I slid each new Plug into the Trapper Keeper’s zipper pouch, and by month’s end the pouch felt satisfyingly heavy. On Plug Day we’d bring our stashes to trade for prizes, the hope of the treasure table quietly pulling the calendar forward.
To keep pace with all that motion, I kept order inside the Trapper Keeper. My world was color-coded: red for Math with Mr. McQuilken, who wrote fractions in tidy, slanted numbers and made us line up our work like picket fences. Sometimes he called me “Horshack” because my hand shot up with a little whoop the second an answer landed. From there, the day turned yellow for Social Studies with Mrs. Downing. The back wall of her room was a giant map of the United States without any state names. She would take her pointer to the back of the room, while we sang state-and-capital songs that stitched themselves into memory. (Say a state now, and the capital still comes running—melody and all.) When Mrs. Downing started rapid-fire map drills, my hand flew before my brain caught up. House B feasted on those Plugs, and I learned how knowledge can ring like a bell you get to ring yourself.
Next, the tab flipped to green for Science with Mr. Irving, whose windowsill terrarium sparked curiosity, as it sat next to a large fish tank where we took turns feeding the fish. Finally, blue for ELA with Ms. Puerello, who said good sentences click like seatbelts and meant it. Her room felt like a warm library with a sense of humor. On the wall hung a poster of kittens— clones of the ones on my Trapper Keeper—teaching prepositions: “anything a cat can do.” The cat was on the table, under the table, beside, between, behind, and, when the day needed it, beyond the table. Because she made space for play, I tried on “writer” like a new jacket. I wrote a poem about collecting shoes and called it “Eileen’s Basement,” my proud little wink at Filene’s Basement—the downtown Boston store where we always found the best deals. She laughed, delighted, and for the first time, I felt my words do work in the world.
Between rooms, I hugged the Trapper Keeper to my chest, the purple kittens peeking from their basket like a secret cheering section. The lockers held coats and lunches; the essentials—notes, maps, the penciled grid of my day—traveled with me under the Velcro flap. Maybe that’s why I practiced the rip of the closure: the one loud click we were permitted, the sound of being ready.
Here’s to a fantastic start for students and teachers alike—may you tuck fresh, bright memories into the Trapper Keeper of your mind and carry them with you all year long.
By October, the hallways made sense. I could take corners without thinking, catch the bell on the first ring, and land in the right seat without checking my schedule. The kittens earned a scuff on one ear, the Velcro quieted, and the rings still snapped shut with satisfying certainty. Fifth grade turned school into a map.
The Trapper Keeper was my compass, House B was my team, and language—those singing capitals, agile prepositions, and that punny poem—became the road I wanted to follow.
— Eileen Wedegartner, JFYNet blended learning specialist
First Day Redux
This summer I attended my 50th high school class reunion. My last first day of school, excluding college, was in September of 1974. I went from not knowing anyone on my first day of 1st grade to celebrating with friends I had made during all 12 years of schooling.
I think what stands out the most are the classmates with whom I stayed friends for all these years. Even if we have not seen each other in a while, we pick up like no time has passed. I enjoyed seeing some of them again and catching up on what we had been doing since graduating. I loved school and learning; however, it is the lifelong friendships I made that I treasure the most!
— Cathie Maglio, JFYNet blended learning specialist
In the comments, share with us your story about your first day of school. We’d love to hear from you.
