Good news!!!

Wow, I finally got some good news about work today... So, after an all-day in-service (ugh), I learned that I have to split up my math into 4th and 5th grade. This means that I'd have to teach math twice daily, to two different groups. Needless to say, I freaked out a little bit. The other 5th grade teacher, however, suggested that we ability-group the 4th and 5th graders (with the other 4th grade teacher was well), and that each of us takes a group. I'd done ability-grouped math for student teaching, and it worked wonderfully.

I told the 5th grade teacher that I was completely on board with her, though the 4th grade teacher had some reservations. The 6th grade teacher also tried to get in on our plan, but coordinating the schedules of 4 teachers was a logistical nightmare. For a while, things looked bleak; it seemed our plan was doomed.

However... the 5th grade teacher ultimately stepped up and offered to do something awesome: she said she'll take my 5th graders for math EVERY DAY, so I can teach just the 4th grade!!! Wow. This is awesome! Scheduling-wise, all I have to do is flop my class's computer/library time with the kindergarten class's. Should be easy enough... So starting Monday, I'll only have to teach math to 12 fourth graders!! Heaven!!

Also, I get continued support and encouragement from the staff. I was told today by three different (veteran) teachers that they don't know how I manage two grades. It turns out that when the superintendant decided I was to take the combo class, he told the other teachers that they were "fortunate to find someone who had experience with this type of class." Um, experience?! I'm a first-year teacher!!! Ha. Lies, lies, lies. Such is life, though. I'm still here, right? (For now...) I was also thinking that maybe I can hang in there until May. We'll see.

Finally, going out with the other newbies last night helped a great deal. I learned I'm not alone in my feelings on a lot of things (being overwhelmed, having a "rough class," dealing with evil parents, etc.), so that was nice. We also got to gossip about all the other teachers, and I learned hidden secrets about seemingly sane staff members.

All in all, a good 24 hours as of late. Now, all I have to do by Monday is: finish the first quarter grades and put them into the computer, make notices for all the students for parent-teacher conferences, plan out next week, and clean my part of the classroom. Yah, I'll be here tomorrow for sure. For now, I go home and relax a bit!