My hellish first year: the first day

My first year was one of the most difficult things I have had to endure in my entire life. People don't give teachers enough credit.
I think I've managed to block the majority of it out of my mind; I'll try to remember as much as I can.

My first day. I had no idea what to expect. I had spent so many hours in the classroom setting it up, cleaning it, and organizing it. Setting up my classroom library took about 10 hours alone. I remember walking into that classroom and being so overwhelmed and scared. How the heck am I going to get all this done by myself!?! There were boxes stacked high and they took up half of the classroom. The classroom had such a thick layer of dust. I had two tables, maybe 4 chairs, one shelf for books and a rug. The boxes were huge and had English and Spanish books all mixed up. The levels were all mixed and the genres were all mixed as well. And did I mention the boxes with the books were huge? They were up on this shelf and impossible to move. It was my first year. I had no idea how to set up my classroom, what bins I needed, what labels I needed. I had NO CLUE.
On the last day of setting up my classroom, this lady walks by (I didn't know who she was) and tells me, "Oh no, your word wall is not in the right spot. It's too small. You should move it over there. When I was a teacher, I had MY word wall..." Thanks lady for telling me this on the last day of set up and after I've labored so many hours on this classroom.

So finally, we come to my first day.
I go down to the auditorium to pick them up. The auditorium is chaotic. Kids yelling, out of their seats, throwing crumbled up papers, teachers sitting at the front of the auditorium talking. Hmmm, I guess this is what they're used to. It was out of a movie scene. I scan the walls looking for my name and then I look at the rows that are supposed to hold my kids. They're huge! They're about as big as I am! And only in 2nd grade...
I go to them and smile (mistake #1). "Hello, I am your new teacher. Please stand up and get in line."
(mistake #2: I assumed they knew how to line up. I was very wrong) The students stood up, grabbed their backpacks and pushed each other to get out of their rows. Then they became a clump in the front of the auditorium talking and laughing and pushing. I had to yell to make myself heard. "Two lines!" Maybe 5 out of the 23 kids got in two lines in front of me. The rest, kept on yelling and laughing. A teacher with a blow horn in the front of the auditorium yelled "Ms. T's class! Line up! Go to class!" (I have changed names and other things to maintain anonymity)
I dont know how to calm the class down- I just turn around and walk and hope that they follow. They did, but in a clump and still talking and pushing and yelling (Mistake #3: allow them to walk in line talking, pushing, and yelling as my first impression). We got out of the auditorium and into the gymnasium. I remember thinking, "My gosh, they can't walk like this. But I can't make myself heard in here either. I'll wait until we get into the classroom." So we went all the way up the stairs to the third floor, loud as ever.
Outside in the hallway, I introduced myself again to the kids and told them, "Go inside, unpack, and sit at your desks. I will tell you what to do next." (Mistake #4: not going over the routine of unpacking) I planned on talking about the rules with them as soon as they were ready. But what I got was kids running into the room and a mob of students heading straight for the closets. This is where the kids started getting hurt. Kids were pushed down and stepped on to get to the closets. What a mess! I didn't know how to stop it. I tried to tell them all to stop and go to their seats (I had put nametags on their seats) but I couldn't be heard. The kids were too loud. I started picking up the poor kids who had been trampled on and making sure they were okay. Then I went and turned off the lights. Most of the kids stopped and looked to see who had done it. I told them all to go to their desks. They went. The closet was a mess. Jackets strewn everywhere, backpacks torn open with notebooks and pencils spilling out. But I left it. (Mistake #6: Not correcting the unpacking behavior) I asked everyone if they were okay and told them briefly, we can't push and shove. Be careful with your classmates.
I don't remember what happened during the rest of that day, but what I do remember is that I didn't teach anything. I broke up fights between the kids, I yelled to be heard, I tried to teach.
I am so passionate about teaching and to go into that type of first day was horrific for me. THIS is what it's like? All of the behavior management strategies that I had learned in class weren't working! Positive reinforcement wasn't working! What do I do? I was exhausted after that first day. The kids were bad the entire day. Fighting, yelling, pushing, being rude. I couldn't be heard.

As my reflection after that first day: I didn't realize all that I needed to plan for the first day- the first weeks. I didn't realize that I had to plan a routine for everything and teach it to them. I didn't realize I had to have something for them to do every second or else they'd try to kill each other. I didn't have the transition mintues planned. I planned for things that were way above their heads. I thought they were supposed to be at a certain level and they weren't. I also wasn't prepared to handle such outstanding behavior issues. Punching and kicking? I didn't know that was what I was getting myself into. And it was ONLY THE BEGINNING.....