Summer vacation is over and I am back in the routine of waking at 6 o’clock each week day. The first full week of classes is done and I find myself comfortably into the swing of a new school year. The students I have been assigned appear to be both bright and enthusiastic—at least up to this point. With the first exam coming up soon I should know if appearances are deceiving; though, their honors Biology teacher from last year says that these students are very good workers.

Class sizes are reasonable, with the exception of advanced placement chemistry which has 30 students. A young man wanted to change his schedule the first week of school and come into my AP class, but the registrar and I told him no; the class being filled to capacity. Actually, 24 students would be ideal. They took an exam over the summer homework assignment I gave them in May and the scores were about average. In my mind, these scores are never high enough. I will need to step up the pace this year as the Chemistry exam is the first of the AP exams in May, giving me two weeks less than last year.

We did the first lab with my honors classes on Wednesday, and second period was quite exciting. About ten minutes into my explanation of the procedure I heard a thump, and turned to find one of my students flat on the floor. She had fainted, coming to almost immediately. We helped her up, and I found a stool for her to sit on while I evaluated her situation. She said that she had never fainted before, but declined a trip to the school nurse, insisting that she felt fine. I honored her request. About two minutes later a different young lady collapsed. Her situation was visibly different, looking like a seizure rather than simple fainting. Her eyes fluttered and rolled, her hands were clasped together and held tightly to her chest. The whole episode lasted about a minute. When she snapped out of it, she complained of blurry vision and a headache. Alarmed, I had her taken to the office to see the nurse. I have had other students faint before, but in all my years of teaching never two in the same period. I followed up with the school nurse the next period; telling her about my suspensions that it was a seizure, not simple fainting. She said that the girl seemed fine, but was picked up by her father and taken home all the same, adding that she had a doctor’s appointment for the next day. I reported the other girl who did not want to go to the office and the nurse decided to call her down to check her out too. Both young ladies showed up in class the next day, no worse for wear.

Thursday evening was the yearly “back-to-school” night where parents run through their student’s schedule during five minute periods. The evening was uneventful for me, but some teachers reported unpleasant encounters with parents. One Spanish teacher recounted how he was ambushed by a parent. Her daughter has a D, based on a single recorded assignment the first week of school. He admitted that he would not be entering grades as quickly in the future based on his encounter with the ridicules parent.

My evening was much tamer. After 35+ years, most of the parents I encountered were either former students, or parents of former students. Being a known commodity works in your favor—unless you have been an ass.