The Z100 Morning Zoo Knows What's Up: Filling Roles and Making Splashes

School is off, off, and away. I ended the first week on an extremely high note and started the second week by jumping out of bed at 6am to take a shower (who am I?)

Here's a little rundown: 
- The first day went great, although it was quite possibly the fastest day of my life. (And the hottest). My room was 86 degrees all day and I met 80 new faces. I went over my rules and expectations as their little brains got jumbled up because "oh-my-god-we're-middle-schoolers-now-and-I-don't-know-how-to-find-my-locker".

- The second day was the best day, like, ever. And no, I do NOT say "like" in front of my students. In fact, I am quite different. I'm conscious of the way I'm speaking and the students respond well. So far, so good. Thank goodness for all of the classroom management techniques I've learned :)

-Day 3: Course pre-test

You're probably wondering where the Z100 Morning Zoo comes in. 

The Zoo Members are becoming part of my circle of friends during my 45 minute commute that starts at 6:30 am when I stop at Dunkin Donuts (asking for free coffee because that's what I saw on Facebook and they have no idea what I'm talking about).

Last week, my new friends were talking about how we fill our "roles" in life, mainly talking about those roles as our jobs. Many of them talked about how shy and introverted they are. But they're on the radio every single morning? They talk to celebrities and tell ridiculous stories to thousands of morning listeners. They explained that they can be outgoing and fun to fill their "role" of a radio personality. I thought about it and realized I've been filling a role that's new to me as well. Did I ever think I would be meeting with a man named Dan to talk about my retirement savings? Since when am I standing in front of 23 sets of eyeballs staring at me, waiting for me to talk? What happened to the Lisa that dances to "The Wobble" and sings Beyonce very loudly... and very badly?

My point is not that these roles are wrong.

My point is that these roles are necessary.

If I danced to The Wobble in front of my Advanced class, they would think I was a weirdo and we wouldn't get anything done. Singing "Love on Top" wouldn't help to raise test scores or educate these kiddos. 

Everyday, whether we know it or not, we have to fill roles. Teacher roles. Daughter roles. Girlfriend roles. Etc. Etc. Etc. And sometimes these roles might be different or out of our comfort zone or confusing or whatever. But we do it because we have to. And we learn.

So this year, I'm jumping into my new role as a Teacher. Let's hope it's a "Perfect 10 Cannonball".