It's now Wednesday. I've been through 3 LONG days of pre-planning for school.
Last Friday I was in early to meet my department heads, check out my room, and bring in some supplies. I spent the morning with one of the ESE heads learning how to write an IEP. I took vigorous notes and was told I would receive my official schedule of where I would be on Monday.
While learning more about my position & expectations involved, our principle's secretary called to see if I had time to talk to our principle. Not knowing I was on campus, I responded that I would be right in the office and dashed off to find out what was going on.
Had I lost my job? Been moved to a different department? There was more self doubt that confidence rearing its head in those moments it took me to find him & sit down in his office.
Luckily, it was none of those things. In a strange twist, an English teacher had decided that day to resign for a position closer to her home. This left my school with a LA vacancy that they needed to fill fast.
Knowing I had my certification in this area as well, Dr. R asked if I would want to take over this teacher's classroom. The schedule contained 3 senior LA classes, 1 junior LA class, and 2 creative writing classes.
After asking Dr. R to give me some time to think about, I frantically called my confidants & weighed out the pros & cons.
Pros-
bigger classroom
more control over content
still having access to ESE population through classes
creative writing is awesome!
seniors are supposed to be the BEST to teach
more involved on campus
classroom right between my new teacher friends
Cons-
uhhh...two weeks til school starts
no supplies
no lesson plans
more responsibility
testing/FCAT
guilt over leaving ESE dept. hanging
In the end I decided that teaching LA will be a more fulfilling position over an ESE Support Staff position. The ESE position would have been much easier, but I am not one to be satisfied with that type of work. Therefore, I accepted the position and jumped in with both feet!
Oh, and then Dr. R asked me to coach JV Cheerleading instead of Soccer. That one was a no-brainer. HECK YES! I talked to the Varsity coach & went right home to review the cheers I knew, think of workouts we could do, tumbling to try.... I can't wait to get started!
Now for my pre-planning experience. Here are the things I wish I had known or if I was remotely aware, wish I had known the capacity to which these items extended.
Things they don't tell you in the College of Ed that they probably should....
1. The teacher cafeteria is to be avoided
- Now we haven't had lunch yet, but the general rule is to try to stay away from the gossip & negativity that tends to permeate talk around the cafeteria. Even in one short week I've noticed the ones who complain, who are unsatisfied, and who are unwilling to work with others. This is not the profession to want to do things on your own, that's for sure.
2. Every district is slow
- I thought Orange County in Orlando was bad. Well, apparently it takes a while for things to be done everywhere.
The people at the county are great; it's just the speed with which things get done. Ironically enough, Emily posted today about being courteous to office staff. I do agree that one shouldn't take it out on the staff that are only following procedure & trying to the best of their ability to help you out.
Conversely though, it has taken an absolute ridiculous amount of time for things to be done. My classroom was full of not one but TWO teachers' things.
In list form:
5 filing cabinets (FULL to the brim)
2 desks
2 computer chairs
2 tables (covered in books for a different subject that I had to remove & take to the book room myself)
26 student desks
5 regular chairs
2 bookshelves
assorted posters & decorations
3 big boxes of miscellaneous stuff
2 large locking cabinets
An old school computer & phone
All the veteran teachers told me to put notes on the things I needed moved & to wait. Well, that didn't sit well with me. How was I supposed to get anything done with all this stuff all over the room? I couldn't even setup my desk with all the clutter around!
Monday I spent most of the day removing books, talking to this person & that person about whose stuff it was & who would remove it, and trying to find some semblance of organization.
Finally, today, the two or three things I marked to be moved (because they were too large to do myself) were taken out!! On even better news, I can finally log onto my Skyward account to access the roster & gradebook! It only took 20 minutes on the phone with tech support. My email should be up by Monday hopefully? Ah, progress.
3. Hip Strategies are so not hip & why trainings require Words with Friends
Marzano is the man of the hour in St. Lucie county.We have been told about numerous grandiose trainings that are to take place in the near future with allusions to how beneficial they will be.
I do believe that these strategies can be helpful and GREAT tools for educators to add to their toolbox; however, I do not think we should have to sit through 3 hour powerpoint presentations where the presenter merely reads from the slides. I can do that at home with a glass of wine much more comfortably!
This is where Words with Friends comes in. Trying to not completely ignore the training today, I read through the handout & marked things I found important & wrote them down as things to take note of/remember. I know what type of learning style works best for me- listening is not it. After about 20 minutes I had finished my note taking & was still stuck with 40 minutes left in the tedious presentation. Thank goodness for technology. I stayed awake & managed to maintain my composure without drooling or nodding off.
Tomorrow holds the promise of another full day of training. Oh. Joy.
4. Roll with It aka Go AROUND the Leaf
Throughout this process I've really had to just go with the flow. As I've stated before, that is not always easy for me, but I think it's a good exercise in what I'm sure will be a parade of changes and adjustments that have to be made with teaching. Things don't always work out just how you want them. Sometimes people don't care if you're lacking a full class set of books when they have 3. They also find it funny when you can't figure out why your door won't open (the key has to be pushed in, held, then pulled out).
Then there are the great friends I know I've already made. They are going to be there to help me get through this first year and to go to happy hour when we've all had a rough day. There are going to be students who really impact who I become as a teacher & that I hope I will positively impact. The school is already such a great community of administration and teachers that really care about their students & each other.
They say educators don't care about their students. I dare them to take a walk in the life of a beginning teacher. The salary isn't worth this kind of work; I know this already! However, the rewards will be amazing...
This school year is the beginning of my journey of teaching, and I am ready to take it on.
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