First week of school accomplished!
What a nice first week of school! I definitely enjoy this whole concept of teaching in the same place again! haha! Its funny because we have moved to a different city every year that I taught. So consequently I taught at a different school each time.
I LOVED the first place I taught. It was 6th grade at a 5/6 Intermediate school. I enjoyed being on an interdisciplinary team. The other teachers and admins were great. The kids were really good! I had some awesome cabinets for storage in that room, even if they were orange! I had a great math dept to work with, including a fellow young teacher right down the hall. During our off periods, we would go get Bush’s 50 cent sweet tea or sometimes a drink from Sonic. I had two off period and both were at the end of the day; I loved being able to get all my teaching done and then be able to plan for the next day without having to get back in the mindset of teaching a lesson. It was really nice.
My second school was very different. I LOVED the teachers that I worked with there and also had a great principal at this school. Here it was 8th grade in a middle school so these kids were much bigger with much more attitude and hormones! They were sweet kids too, many of whom needed a lot extra help. I really enjoyed teaching algebra even though I often had to brush up on my skills prior to teaching a topic! I lived about 3 minutes away from the school and my room had lots of windows! I enjoyed teaching here for many reasons, but for many reasons, it was very difficult here too. I taught double blocked classes which was sometimes too long to be with the same 30 students who were struggling in math. I was sad to leave my great co workers. We could all relate really well because we were all at the same stage in life, young and recently married without kids.
The school I am now working at is WONDERFUL too! I am very blessed that I am here! It was definitely the Lord leading me here and keeping me here a second year. Due to a 45 minute commute, I applied to a closer district. While I would have loved to save gas money and 1.5 hrs a day, I knew that if I got a job offer closer to home, I would be really torn about what to do. My school has a great staff and wonderful students. It is a really great atmosphere. Not to mention that due to last year’s test scores, we are now an EXEMPLARY campus!! Whooo hooo!!!! Who wouldn’t want to come back to that? So I just prayed and asked that the Lord would make it very clear to me what to do. And he did and I got to stay at my school.
So all that to say, it is so neat to be back! It is very exciting to see my kids from last year come back, a little bit taller and so excited to be 7th graders! I am even teaching siblings of two students from last year. I have also enjoyed knowing who everyone is right from the start, knowing the answers to little questions like “where is the bulletin board paper” and “who do I turn that form into” and “how do I get copies made”. I like that I already have keys made to the worksheets and I already have the notes that I can give to the students. I know what to do differently, and what worked well last year. If I want to add to my lesson from last year, I can. Or if I liked it, I can just do it again. I feel like I can be more effective this year! So thanks for all the wishes for a great first week. I hope all you teachers out there had a great week too!
p.s….Need a good idea for dinner? Check out the side bar!
