The Calm Before the Storm

Hello! As I have not yet begun my first year of teaching, nor my inservices, I figure this ("ground zero," so to speak) is a good place to start.

I suppose I will begin with my interest in teaching, as well as my educational background. I have known intuitively that I've wanted to teach since I was 6 years old; I have documented evidence! With this idea in mind, I constantly volunteered from age 8ish (Girl Scouts) until the present, attempting to gain as much knowledge about people as I possibly could. I graduated high school with honors, and went on to college. After battling where, exactly, I needed to be, I graduated from The Ohio State University (yes, there's a "the" in the front, which cost someone a LOT of $$), magna cum laude and with distinction. There, I studied human development and early education (Pre-K through grade 3). I then returned to Arizona (where I had started college), and soon graduated with distinction with a Master of Education (elementary) degree from Northern Arizona University. Yay. Before graduation, I signed a contract with a teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeny district in Arizona, where my salary isn't exactly what it could be.

Having said all that, I am excited to FINALLY be on my way to achieving a dream nearly 17 years in the making! I will be employed in a low-income district (to remain anonymous so that I may talk about issues more candidly), so I feel my services are definitely needed here!

For the past few weeks, I have been setting up my classroom (still have a ways to go), meeting other teachers/staff, and been trying to read/prepare as much as possible... it's very scary, and the dreams/nightmares have been in the works for a few weeks now.

I did, however, find out a bit about my class... I have 23 students as of right now, as even a mix possible between boys and girls, as well as 4th and 5th graders. Though I had signed the contract in April for a 5th grade position, I have been informed that there are not enough 4th nor 5th graders to form their own classes. Thus, I get stuck with the "leftovers," in a sense, of both grades. Bad move for a principal to do that to a first-year teacher, but I shall prevail.

Aside from this, I shall spend tomorrow and Tuesday in the classroom as much as possible, then our new teacher inservices begin on Wednesday. As luck would have it, the first day of school for the students is on my 23rd birthday (Tuesday, August 15th). Happy birthday to me, eh?

Finally, I am both enthralled and terrified to begin this gigantic step in my life! Of course, I'm filled with doubt, but I also know that I can step up to this awesome challenge. This blog is mostly for myself, so that I have a record of the insanity of the year, but I'm absolutely welcome to any comments/thoughts/questions/concerns/ad nauseum that you may have (even if you're a perfect stranger).

OK!!! Let's get this show on the road!!