Back At It

I have successfully completed my first week of school! It's difficult putting all of my emotions into words. When anyone asked me how things went, my simple response has been, "I think really well." Pretty vague, huh?!?

As you can imagine, the week was quite busy between the kids being back in the classroom and coaching volleyball. It's made it hard to chat with my friends on the phone, but when I finally had the chance to talk to my best friend on Friday night, I could feel her smiling through the phone. She said she was happy knowing that I am busy and happy. She went on to say, "I just know you're in the right place." After thinking more about that today, I couldn't have said it better myself.

I have been welcomed by my new district with open arms. People have offered advice and gone out of their way to make me feel at home. My confidence in the classroom has sky-rocketted. I wanted to come in to this year firm, yet still fun. As many teachers will tell you, this is one of the hardest part of our job (at least I think). If you control the behavior issues, the focus can be on the content. Speaking of content, I'm so excited for my new classes and curriculum. This is my first time with block scheduling, and I think I will really like it. We have so much more time to read, write, discuss. We don't have to rush, and in English, this is more important than you might think. We can give justice to the piece of literature being study. We can spend time perfecting the writing process. It's awesome.

More than anything, it feels amazing to be in the classroom again. Over the summer, it's easy to lose sight of my purpose. I feel alive again when I'm teaching. It's wonderful to be back at it.