阅读理解The first day of school

阅读理解The first day of school
I have been teaching for seventeen years now.For the last three years I have been teaching the second grade at Washington Elementary School.Most of what happens on the first day of school every year is not new for me because I have been doing it for too long.But I still approach each new school year differently.
One way that each year is different is that I always hope that each year’s new students will be different.I hope that this year’s students will be smarter,better behaved,and more ready to settle down and start acting as though they are in school and not on vacation.I also hope that the new students will not cry,will have their lunch money,and will know what bus they are supposed to take to get home or whether their parents will be picking them up.
Another way I hope new school years will be different is that I hope I will be better prepared.I know that I have started school years before,so I should be ready to help the students organize their supplies and put them in the blue and red storage boxes at the back of the room.I should be ready for the children to get tired and start to fall asleep by two o’clock in the long afternoon.I should be ready to check that the students can write their names and can recognize their names when they see them.
But I am always surprised at the beginning of school.This year,for example,I had twenty-three new students.On the first day,six of them had forgotten to bring lunch money and did not have lunches of their own.I had to lend them money so they could eat in the cafeteria.Most of them knew how to get back home,but one little boy,Manfred,got on the wrong bus,and I had to pick him up and drive him home.He cried all the way.
I was also surprised this year when three of the students did not seem to be able to read,and one of them would not write her name.I had given them easy books to read after lunch,while I was trying to make up some lists of students’ names for the office.I noticed that three children were looking at the pictures in the book but not at the writing.I stopped and asked them what they were reading,but they did not seem to know.I hope that they were just confused and afraid on the first day of school and that they will be able to read along with the other children.
In general,though,the first day of school is an exciting one,for the children and for me.They are excited to get away from home and to be with a lot of other children their age.They look forward to the new year in school and ask me a lot of questions about what we will do during the year.I am excited because I have a new group of students to teach,and I look forward to watching them learn writing,mathematics,and information about the community and the world they live in.Although it is sometimes difficult,it is very satisfying to be a teacher and to know that I am helping so many children become useful and educated adults.