Successful trial run!
I'm happy to say that I was awake, cognizant, and fully dressed by 7 am this morning. I still need to shave another hour from that by next week, but I'm hopeful that it won't be such a shock to my system. I'm leaving for a wedding today (4th one this summer!), so I was forced to abandon the usual routine of sleeping in until 7:30 or (dare I say it) 8.
I'm having mixed feelings about going back to school. I do feel rested, I do have new ideas for how to start the year, and I would like to meet my new students. I'm even halfway excited about coaching, even though I have no clue what I'm doing and the Athletic Director won't answer my emails with questions. (She probably regrets giving me the job now - ha!)
There's the other half of me, though, that remembers all too well the school-consumed days, crawling out of bed in a stupor, getting ready while the rest of the world sleeps, and trying to force myself to eat at 5:30 am so that I won't pass out in 1st period. And then the whirlwind days of keeping my head above water, only to drown in more work at night. Ugh. I'm hopeful that this year won't be quite as overwhelming, and that I'll be able to blow off school completely once or twice a week and have some semblance of a life again.
Everyone says the 2nd year is better, and they all said the 1st year was awful, so hopefully they're right again. I keep telling myself I'll have new kids, new parents, and a year of experience behind me. I have plenty of strategies for doing things a little differently this year, I just don't want to end up doing the wrong thing again twice in a row.
Another thing that bothers me is my principal's advice during my end of the year conference. She told me to focus heavily on the first 10 days of school and not to do anything interactive during those 10 days. I totally agree with setting the standards firm & early, but she cannot be serious about abandoning hands-on inquiry-based science for 10 whole days. I don't know how to teach if I can't give them activities & allow them to explore & discover. I think last year I would have followed her advice to the letter ... I feel a little more confident now in taking what I want & leaving the rest to her personal opinion. I think her general point is to be more structured early in the year in order to set the expectations & know your classroom a little better, and I'll definitely be more careful & intentional in those. But 10 days of no hands-on science ... how absolutely dull. I think I'd go mad, and I can't imagine the kids enjoying it. She's a former language arts teacher, so maybe that has something to do with it... who knows.
At any rate, I'll enjoy my last school-free weekend as much as I can! Thankfully, I'll never ever have a 1st year of teaching again, that's for sure.
I'm having mixed feelings about going back to school. I do feel rested, I do have new ideas for how to start the year, and I would like to meet my new students. I'm even halfway excited about coaching, even though I have no clue what I'm doing and the Athletic Director won't answer my emails with questions. (She probably regrets giving me the job now - ha!)
There's the other half of me, though, that remembers all too well the school-consumed days, crawling out of bed in a stupor, getting ready while the rest of the world sleeps, and trying to force myself to eat at 5:30 am so that I won't pass out in 1st period. And then the whirlwind days of keeping my head above water, only to drown in more work at night. Ugh. I'm hopeful that this year won't be quite as overwhelming, and that I'll be able to blow off school completely once or twice a week and have some semblance of a life again.
Everyone says the 2nd year is better, and they all said the 1st year was awful, so hopefully they're right again. I keep telling myself I'll have new kids, new parents, and a year of experience behind me. I have plenty of strategies for doing things a little differently this year, I just don't want to end up doing the wrong thing again twice in a row.
Another thing that bothers me is my principal's advice during my end of the year conference. She told me to focus heavily on the first 10 days of school and not to do anything interactive during those 10 days. I totally agree with setting the standards firm & early, but she cannot be serious about abandoning hands-on inquiry-based science for 10 whole days. I don't know how to teach if I can't give them activities & allow them to explore & discover. I think last year I would have followed her advice to the letter ... I feel a little more confident now in taking what I want & leaving the rest to her personal opinion. I think her general point is to be more structured early in the year in order to set the expectations & know your classroom a little better, and I'll definitely be more careful & intentional in those. But 10 days of no hands-on science ... how absolutely dull. I think I'd go mad, and I can't imagine the kids enjoying it. She's a former language arts teacher, so maybe that has something to do with it... who knows.
At any rate, I'll enjoy my last school-free weekend as much as I can! Thankfully, I'll never ever have a 1st year of teaching again, that's for sure.
posted by Kat at
6:28 AM
1 Comments:
Hey! Are you talking smack about English teachers? :) I'm glad you feel confident enough to know her way isn't your way. You're right; she was probably thinking of more structure in the classroom those first few days; that's something I'd recommend, too. Unfortunately, too many people believe that means drill 'em and kill 'em until the students are stupified into obedience. You know enough about teaching to know that doesn't work!
Enjoy this last week. I start tomorrow, with a week of orientations to campus and department and technology. It's like being a freshman all over again...which is pretty accurate, actualy.
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phd me, at 9:24 PM
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