Wow! Between the beginning of a new school year, moving to a new school and setting up my classroom, and oh yeah, did I mention having an 8 month old daughter? My head is constantly swimming in all that I have to do and keep up with.
Breathe. This too shall pass.
With regards to my new digs, I love it! My students face a completely different set of challenges than my students have for the past 7 years, but their challenges are every bit as real and as difficult. I know this may sound odd, but that is one of my favorite parts of teaching - getting to know my kids and seeing what challenges they have that I can try to help them learn to overcome.
The administration is wonderful and very supportive, and I feel like their goal truly is to help their teachers grow to be equipped with the tools to face those challenges.
But my main challenge... well, they can't put more hours in the day, can they?
Sigh. I was afraid that would be a no..
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Monday, July 29, 2013
New Year, New School, New Blog
My entire seven years of teaching has all been in one school, and as much as I loved my students and coworkers there, when I had my daughter in January, it brought about some major changes in my life. One of those changes was that I no longer found the 40 minute drive to and from work to be my mental preparation/unwinding time, and started to feel like it was another barrier to being with my precious baby. So I left.
It was a very emotional decision, but through the tears, I knew it was what was best for me and for my family at this time. I prayed over it, my husband and I talked about it, but there were no offers from other school districts. There weren't even any calls to schedule interviews.
But I knew.
Somehow, I knew that I was not supposed to return this year.
And then contracts came out, and I was faced with a very big decision.
On the one hand, signing my contract guaranteed me a job, and that security sure did seem important with a sweet baby to care for. And I did love my students. And I did have wonderful coworkers, who I would miss if I left. So maybe this was Heavenly Father's way of showing me that I needed to stay. Maybe the lack of response to my application was my sign that I had misunderstood.
Or maybe not. Maybe this was a test. Or maybe the timing wasn't right. Or maybe I just needed to learn to trust that nagging feeling that kept telling me over and over "Don't sign. This is not where I want you." And the feeling got stronger and stronger, and the voice came to a fever pitch the day contracts were due.
But security won out. Well, security and my husband's rational explanation that not only would signing give me that security, but if I did find something, I could get out of my contract.
So I signed, but still, I knew.
Every time I thought about being back, it just felt wrong. And every time I thought about being somewhere else, I felt a peace that just told me something was on the horizon and to wait a little bit longer.
So a few weeks ago, I was offered a position in the county where I live at a school 15 minutes away with an on-site daycare. It's about 5-10 minutes from where I grew up, and it's my absolute dream position: teaching math and science in 5th grade!
But the strangest part: when I started looking, I just knew this would be the school, regardless of the fact that there are probably 30 elementary schools in the district and 5 of them are closer to me.
Clearly, this is where I'm supposed to be, even if I'm not 100% sure why yet. :-)
It was a very emotional decision, but through the tears, I knew it was what was best for me and for my family at this time. I prayed over it, my husband and I talked about it, but there were no offers from other school districts. There weren't even any calls to schedule interviews.
But I knew.
Somehow, I knew that I was not supposed to return this year.
And then contracts came out, and I was faced with a very big decision.
On the one hand, signing my contract guaranteed me a job, and that security sure did seem important with a sweet baby to care for. And I did love my students. And I did have wonderful coworkers, who I would miss if I left. So maybe this was Heavenly Father's way of showing me that I needed to stay. Maybe the lack of response to my application was my sign that I had misunderstood.
Or maybe not. Maybe this was a test. Or maybe the timing wasn't right. Or maybe I just needed to learn to trust that nagging feeling that kept telling me over and over "Don't sign. This is not where I want you." And the feeling got stronger and stronger, and the voice came to a fever pitch the day contracts were due.
But security won out. Well, security and my husband's rational explanation that not only would signing give me that security, but if I did find something, I could get out of my contract.
So I signed, but still, I knew.
Every time I thought about being back, it just felt wrong. And every time I thought about being somewhere else, I felt a peace that just told me something was on the horizon and to wait a little bit longer.
So a few weeks ago, I was offered a position in the county where I live at a school 15 minutes away with an on-site daycare. It's about 5-10 minutes from where I grew up, and it's my absolute dream position: teaching math and science in 5th grade!
But the strangest part: when I started looking, I just knew this would be the school, regardless of the fact that there are probably 30 elementary schools in the district and 5 of them are closer to me.
Clearly, this is where I'm supposed to be, even if I'm not 100% sure why yet. :-)
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