What a week! I have felt so many different emotions and while I came home on edge and feeling very overwhelmed multiple times this week, I think I am finally feeling as if I might be ready for the first day of school (tomorrow). Now don't ask if I am ready for the days that are after that, because that answer would most likely be no.
Almost every day this week we had a meeting for part of the day and then we spent the read of the time working in our rooms or on our own materials. This is with the exception of Tuesday which was spent working on just our content areas and talking about how we can make our classroom assessments better. I spent most of the week at the high school that is further from my house and out in the woods. I have been feeling a little more comfortable at this school and I'm not sure exactly why that is. The staff seems to be a little bit more cohesive, or at least the math department, and there is one teacher there who is close to my age and has kind of taken me in and helped me out quite a bit. I was at the other school on Thursday and while it was still a good day and I was able to get a lot done I ended up leaving feeling overwhelmed and terrified that I was going to screw so much up because of the fact that I'm balancing the two schools. I want to do what is best for the kids and only having me there every other day could get interesting. I think it will be fine, just an adjustment. I need to make sure that I stay organized, and on top of life!
Whether or not I'm truly ready for what I'm getting into, we shall see. I feel like I am ready for the first day (really 2 days since it is block scheduling). After that, I will need to do a lot more lesson planning and grading and go from there. Things will get busier and I will learn the true meaning of finding balance between work and "life". Considering I've been at school until 5 or 6 most of this week, I'm hoping to limit it to not too much later than that most nights, but we'll see. I also hope to not have to bring too much of my work home with me. These are all of my hopes and dreams, we'll see what reality has in store for me as the next few weeks play out.
Friday night the Woodgrove Wolverines had their first home football game and did amazingly! They won 52-7 and it was a good game! It was fun to go and watch the students play with a few new and a few veteran teachers. I will have mainly freshman and sophomores there but who knows, some of them might be football players and it is always good to show support!
Saturday I spent most of the day at school getting things ready and then came home and relaxed. I was hoping to go out for drinks with a friend but was fighting a migraine all day. Between stress, the crazy changes in weather/pressure, and my neck muscles fighting against me I ended up being stuck at home trying to calm myself down. I ended up taking some of my migraine medicine and sleeping. It was frustrating but I got a decent nights sleep and I felt a bit better in the morning.
Today I had an amazingly lazy day. I finished up stuff for school tomorrow and then just relaxed and watched tv shows, did my nails, made dinner (for the week), and tried to forget about how nervous (and terrified) I am about tomorrow. I know things are going to be fine. They are just students and I've been working in a high school for two years now and teaching math for even longer than that, but that doesn't make it any easier to get over the fact that I am now a "real" teacher and that I'm now the one in charge of these 115+ kids walking into my (5) classrooms. I think I'm capable and that I will be able to handle it, I know I have done a lot to get to this point.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Another church, More orientation, and lots of learning
It has been another long week, and while I am still feeling overwhelmed I'm doing my best to keep things in perspective and not worry too much.
Last Sunday I went to a local Presbyterian church and I was immediately welcomed. It was quite a different experience from the week before. When I came in one of the members walked me into the worship space and introduced me to a few other people who talked with me for a little while and invited me to sit with them through worship. The worship service itself was more contemporary and casual than most Presbyterian services I have been to but I really enjoyed it. The sermon was about David and Goliath and how we all face giants in our own lives and it all comes down to where we turn for support and strength to overcome those giants. It was a very applicable telling of the story and an eye-opening reminder that we can't do things by ourselves.
All week we had different types of orientation meetings. Everyday was different, and there was a lot to learn from each session.
Monday the new teachers met with the technology resource teacher and learned how to set our grade books up online as well as our classroom webpages and email and a bunch of other little things. In the afternoon we met with our mentors. It was awesome to finally meet with the person that I'll be working and meeting with regularly. We spent a few hours talking about first day of school procedures as well as what I am most nervous about and how to combat that. Then she drove me around the area that kids come from for that high school. One of the schools I am at is further away and out in the woods more. Some of those kids have to sit on the bus for close to 45 minutes. We drove to both sides of the region, and saw the extremes the giant houses that the very rich families live in and the small historic villages that are out by the farms. It gave me a good perspective for that school, and it helped me to compare it to the other high school I'm at which is right in the middle of a suburb and in neighborhoods where most students can walk to school.
Tuesday we had math standards training. This was especially helpful since I am coming from out of state. Learning about the state exams here and the standards that go with them was wonderful and the activities that we did were hands on and enjoyable. In the afternoon we were able to go back to our schools and work on our own. It was nice to finally have some time on my own to work on things for the first day of school. I met another math teacher who is close to my age and teaching geometry as well. It was really reassuring to hear from her experiences and get some materials from her. That evening I went out for dinner and drinks with another teacher that I had met on the first two days of new teacher orientation. It was nice to go out with someone to relax and talk with someone who would understand.
Wednesday was the first day with all of the staff back at school. We had an opening staff meeting to introduce ourselves to each other, hear about procedures and policies, and then after lunch we all went bowling as a team building exercise. It was great to meet other staff members and do something fun with them.
Thursday I went to the other high school so that I could try to split my time evenly. We had a meeting about unpacking standards and going into them with more detail. It was long and drawn out but helpful none the less. During lunch I was able to meet with the other math department staff and get to know them a bit more and get some materials from them which was really helpful. After lunch we had orientation for the students. They ran through their schedules and they were in each class for 3 minutes. This gave me the opportunity to meet two out of my five classes (all of the ones at that school). It was short and I didn't even have the time to be nervous beforehand. It was felt good to see kids though.
Friday was a full day of "classroom preparation" but since I don't have one classroom, I share 5 different ones I live in the workrooms at the two different schools and will move around on carts. I spent the morning at one school meeting with teachers to plan our first 9 weeks and to continue working on things for the first day of school. After lunch I went over to the other high school and had a meeting with the math department and talked with a few of the teachers there. I ended up staying until 6pm working on different things for the first day of school. It was super productive and felt good.
Today I went school supply shopping and got materials for my classrooms. I finished preparing a few things and made some sugar cookies (from a box from Wegmans!). It felt like a semi-productive day, despite not doing quite as much as I hoped for.
I'm still feeling overwhelmed but also know that I still have a whole week before students come. Physically my body is still adjusting to a school schedule of waking up early but that should become normal this week. Emotionally I'm still struggling with being alone most of the time and trying to figure out how to overcome that. I know as school starts and I have a routine that will get easier but right now it is difficult.
Last Sunday I went to a local Presbyterian church and I was immediately welcomed. It was quite a different experience from the week before. When I came in one of the members walked me into the worship space and introduced me to a few other people who talked with me for a little while and invited me to sit with them through worship. The worship service itself was more contemporary and casual than most Presbyterian services I have been to but I really enjoyed it. The sermon was about David and Goliath and how we all face giants in our own lives and it all comes down to where we turn for support and strength to overcome those giants. It was a very applicable telling of the story and an eye-opening reminder that we can't do things by ourselves.
All week we had different types of orientation meetings. Everyday was different, and there was a lot to learn from each session.
Monday the new teachers met with the technology resource teacher and learned how to set our grade books up online as well as our classroom webpages and email and a bunch of other little things. In the afternoon we met with our mentors. It was awesome to finally meet with the person that I'll be working and meeting with regularly. We spent a few hours talking about first day of school procedures as well as what I am most nervous about and how to combat that. Then she drove me around the area that kids come from for that high school. One of the schools I am at is further away and out in the woods more. Some of those kids have to sit on the bus for close to 45 minutes. We drove to both sides of the region, and saw the extremes the giant houses that the very rich families live in and the small historic villages that are out by the farms. It gave me a good perspective for that school, and it helped me to compare it to the other high school I'm at which is right in the middle of a suburb and in neighborhoods where most students can walk to school.
Tuesday we had math standards training. This was especially helpful since I am coming from out of state. Learning about the state exams here and the standards that go with them was wonderful and the activities that we did were hands on and enjoyable. In the afternoon we were able to go back to our schools and work on our own. It was nice to finally have some time on my own to work on things for the first day of school. I met another math teacher who is close to my age and teaching geometry as well. It was really reassuring to hear from her experiences and get some materials from her. That evening I went out for dinner and drinks with another teacher that I had met on the first two days of new teacher orientation. It was nice to go out with someone to relax and talk with someone who would understand.
Wednesday was the first day with all of the staff back at school. We had an opening staff meeting to introduce ourselves to each other, hear about procedures and policies, and then after lunch we all went bowling as a team building exercise. It was great to meet other staff members and do something fun with them.
Thursday I went to the other high school so that I could try to split my time evenly. We had a meeting about unpacking standards and going into them with more detail. It was long and drawn out but helpful none the less. During lunch I was able to meet with the other math department staff and get to know them a bit more and get some materials from them which was really helpful. After lunch we had orientation for the students. They ran through their schedules and they were in each class for 3 minutes. This gave me the opportunity to meet two out of my five classes (all of the ones at that school). It was short and I didn't even have the time to be nervous beforehand. It was felt good to see kids though.
Friday was a full day of "classroom preparation" but since I don't have one classroom, I share 5 different ones I live in the workrooms at the two different schools and will move around on carts. I spent the morning at one school meeting with teachers to plan our first 9 weeks and to continue working on things for the first day of school. After lunch I went over to the other high school and had a meeting with the math department and talked with a few of the teachers there. I ended up staying until 6pm working on different things for the first day of school. It was super productive and felt good.
Today I went school supply shopping and got materials for my classrooms. I finished preparing a few things and made some sugar cookies (from a box from Wegmans!). It felt like a semi-productive day, despite not doing quite as much as I hoped for.
I'm still feeling overwhelmed but also know that I still have a whole week before students come. Physically my body is still adjusting to a school schedule of waking up early but that should become normal this week. Emotionally I'm still struggling with being alone most of the time and trying to figure out how to overcome that. I know as school starts and I have a routine that will get easier but right now it is difficult.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
New Teacher Orientation
The past few days have been quite a whirlwind. I have come home exhausted and feeling a little overloaded with information. Each day was different, so I'll give you a short rundown of what they looked like.
Wednesday was our first day and it was meant for teachers new to the county without any experience teaching (beyond students teaching or subbing). So we came in, had a light breakfast (we all looked like the new kids at school in the cafeteria trying to figure out where to go and who to sit with), and then went and sat in the auditorium. We listened to a few speakers talk about the mentor program that the county has for us and then we met in groups with a bunch of the lead mentors in our schools. This was nice because we were able to at least meet one person in our school who we will work with and it lead to us meeting the other new teachers in our school. We spent about 2 hours in these groups talking about general procedures within the program. Then we had lunch, and about half an hour question and answer time with a panel of second year teachers. I really like this panel time. They answered the questions well and were able to ease some of our concerns since they were all close to our situation. After that the new teachers from each school went and met with their lead mentor again individually at their school. Since our school was a ways away (30 minutes) and we all lived closer to where we actually were, we decided to just go to Starbucks and talk there. So we went over more procedures and she was able to answer a lot of our questions about our school specifically. It was a really informal conversation which was nice.
By the time I got home around 3:45 I was exhausted! I had been awake since 6am and talking to people or listening to them since 7:40. It was a lot of good information and there was a lot that I needed to know. It made me feel better to start to ease into things.
Thursday was another day just for new teachers without experience. This was a little more content and classroom based than the day before. We had a small group session in the more about delivery of instruction where we were "re-taught" different strategies of instruction and teaching. Some of them were helpful to review, some of it was just a lot of review of "book-work" from college. After lunch we had a really great session on classroom management. The three women that led that session had some great ideas and just kept us engaged the whole time. Not to mention they put us at ease about the first few days of school and gave us some concrete ways to make them go smoother.
It was another long day and I was definitely tired by the end of it but I was encouraged after it. I had a positive outlook and despite information overload, most of it was good.
Friday was crazy! This was for all employees new to the county, whether they've been teaching for twenty years or just started. There had to be a couple hundred people, it was nuts! Anyway, when we showed up, there was a red carpet rolled out, all of the administrators from the most of the schools, and the cheerleaders from that specific high school were outside cheering for all of us as we entered the building. It was kind of awkward to say the least, but at the same time it was nice to feel appreciated. We spent the morning listening to presentations from different vendors and sponsors. They gave away a lot of door prizes and raffles which was kind of cool. After walking around the gym talking to some of the sponsors, the group from my school went to lunch. Then we headed back to our school and met with our assistant principals. We then went over the handbook quickly and talked about specific school procedures in more depth and got a tour of the school. I will be in three different classrooms for my three different classes at that school. It should be rather interesting.
I finally got home around 4:45 and was truly exhausted. We had gotten so much information in the afternoon that I know I won't remember when the time comes. Physically I was fine, although I did find out my b12 level is dangerously low to the lowest end of the "normal" range even with the monthly injections which is not fun. That might be accounting for why I'm feeling as tired as I am recently. Mentally I really was just feeling a bit overloaded, it's the only way to explain it. I just felt like I needed to shut down.
Today I took a little time to rejuvenate. I slept in until 8:30. It wasn't much but it was all my body would let me do. I had a lazy morning, just watched a few tv shows online and then I ran a bunch of errands and got things for the apartment that I needed and went grocery shopping. Then I made a delicious risotto for dinner because the recipe looked delicious and it seemed like a good idea to have real food around the house, even as left overs. Not to mention cooking felt good. The recipe is below.
Emotionally I'm in a weird spot. It's been nice to start meeting people who I'll be working with, at least some of the other new people in the school who are in the same boat as me. I also met another new teacher who lives close by to me and we are planning to get drinks sometime soon which will be nice if it happens. I'm trying to stay occupied because I've never been good at being alone and not over-thinking everything. I'm hoping that once I get into school I'll have more to do, or at least more to do with people. I'll be able to start planning lessons in a few days, I haven't been able to much because we do a lot of common planning and I need to talk to the other teachers that are teaching the same classes as me to see what is being taught when and how certain things are going to be taught so it has limited what I could do at night and on the weekends. I'm trying really hard not to miss home (Rochester), and everyone there, and the life I had built there but sometimes that is just really difficult.
Tomorrow I'm planning on going to a different church and seeing what it is like. Then I'm going shopping with my friend from high school. I need to get some more teacher clothes before the year starts. I'm hoping between retail therapy and being out with a good friend it should be a very good time! The rest of the week I'll be off and running with more orientation and training. The next two days are still for new hires and then the end of the week is for everyone. It will be a lot of professional development, curriculum, technology, and planning. I've got 2 weeks to get ready for kids!
Tomato and Sausage Risotto (Adapted from Martha Stewart Everyday Food)
Ingredients:
1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes in juice
1 Tbls olive oil
3/4 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic chopped (not in original recipe but I added it and enjoyed it)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 cup Arborio Rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
4-6 oz. flat lead spinach (the recipe called for 10-14 oz. I used significantly less and liked it a lot better) wash well, removed touch stems, chop
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbls butter
Wednesday was our first day and it was meant for teachers new to the county without any experience teaching (beyond students teaching or subbing). So we came in, had a light breakfast (we all looked like the new kids at school in the cafeteria trying to figure out where to go and who to sit with), and then went and sat in the auditorium. We listened to a few speakers talk about the mentor program that the county has for us and then we met in groups with a bunch of the lead mentors in our schools. This was nice because we were able to at least meet one person in our school who we will work with and it lead to us meeting the other new teachers in our school. We spent about 2 hours in these groups talking about general procedures within the program. Then we had lunch, and about half an hour question and answer time with a panel of second year teachers. I really like this panel time. They answered the questions well and were able to ease some of our concerns since they were all close to our situation. After that the new teachers from each school went and met with their lead mentor again individually at their school. Since our school was a ways away (30 minutes) and we all lived closer to where we actually were, we decided to just go to Starbucks and talk there. So we went over more procedures and she was able to answer a lot of our questions about our school specifically. It was a really informal conversation which was nice.
By the time I got home around 3:45 I was exhausted! I had been awake since 6am and talking to people or listening to them since 7:40. It was a lot of good information and there was a lot that I needed to know. It made me feel better to start to ease into things.
Thursday was another day just for new teachers without experience. This was a little more content and classroom based than the day before. We had a small group session in the more about delivery of instruction where we were "re-taught" different strategies of instruction and teaching. Some of them were helpful to review, some of it was just a lot of review of "book-work" from college. After lunch we had a really great session on classroom management. The three women that led that session had some great ideas and just kept us engaged the whole time. Not to mention they put us at ease about the first few days of school and gave us some concrete ways to make them go smoother.
It was another long day and I was definitely tired by the end of it but I was encouraged after it. I had a positive outlook and despite information overload, most of it was good.
Friday was crazy! This was for all employees new to the county, whether they've been teaching for twenty years or just started. There had to be a couple hundred people, it was nuts! Anyway, when we showed up, there was a red carpet rolled out, all of the administrators from the most of the schools, and the cheerleaders from that specific high school were outside cheering for all of us as we entered the building. It was kind of awkward to say the least, but at the same time it was nice to feel appreciated. We spent the morning listening to presentations from different vendors and sponsors. They gave away a lot of door prizes and raffles which was kind of cool. After walking around the gym talking to some of the sponsors, the group from my school went to lunch. Then we headed back to our school and met with our assistant principals. We then went over the handbook quickly and talked about specific school procedures in more depth and got a tour of the school. I will be in three different classrooms for my three different classes at that school. It should be rather interesting.
I finally got home around 4:45 and was truly exhausted. We had gotten so much information in the afternoon that I know I won't remember when the time comes. Physically I was fine, although I did find out my b12 level is dangerously low to the lowest end of the "normal" range even with the monthly injections which is not fun. That might be accounting for why I'm feeling as tired as I am recently. Mentally I really was just feeling a bit overloaded, it's the only way to explain it. I just felt like I needed to shut down.
Today I took a little time to rejuvenate. I slept in until 8:30. It wasn't much but it was all my body would let me do. I had a lazy morning, just watched a few tv shows online and then I ran a bunch of errands and got things for the apartment that I needed and went grocery shopping. Then I made a delicious risotto for dinner because the recipe looked delicious and it seemed like a good idea to have real food around the house, even as left overs. Not to mention cooking felt good. The recipe is below.
Emotionally I'm in a weird spot. It's been nice to start meeting people who I'll be working with, at least some of the other new people in the school who are in the same boat as me. I also met another new teacher who lives close by to me and we are planning to get drinks sometime soon which will be nice if it happens. I'm trying to stay occupied because I've never been good at being alone and not over-thinking everything. I'm hoping that once I get into school I'll have more to do, or at least more to do with people. I'll be able to start planning lessons in a few days, I haven't been able to much because we do a lot of common planning and I need to talk to the other teachers that are teaching the same classes as me to see what is being taught when and how certain things are going to be taught so it has limited what I could do at night and on the weekends. I'm trying really hard not to miss home (Rochester), and everyone there, and the life I had built there but sometimes that is just really difficult.
Tomorrow I'm planning on going to a different church and seeing what it is like. Then I'm going shopping with my friend from high school. I need to get some more teacher clothes before the year starts. I'm hoping between retail therapy and being out with a good friend it should be a very good time! The rest of the week I'll be off and running with more orientation and training. The next two days are still for new hires and then the end of the week is for everyone. It will be a lot of professional development, curriculum, technology, and planning. I've got 2 weeks to get ready for kids!
Tomato and Sausage Risotto (Adapted from Martha Stewart Everyday Food)
Ingredients:
1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes in juice
1 Tbls olive oil
3/4 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic chopped (not in original recipe but I added it and enjoyed it)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 cup Arborio Rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
4-6 oz. flat lead spinach (the recipe called for 10-14 oz. I used significantly less and liked it a lot better) wash well, removed touch stems, chop
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbls butter
Directions:
1.) In a small saucepan, combine tomatoes (With their juice) and 3 cups water. Bring just to a simmer; keep warm over low heat.
2.) In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add sausage and onion; season with salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up sausage with a spoon, until sausage is opaque and onion has softened, 3 to 5 minutes.
3.) Add rice; cook, stirring until well coated, 1 to 2 minutes. Add wine; cook, stirring until absorbed, about 1 minute.
4.) Add about 2 cups of the hot tomato mixture to rice; simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until absorbed, 4 to 5 minutes. Continue adding tomator mixture, 1 cup at a time, waiting for one cup to be absorbed before adding the next, stirring occasionally, until rice is creamy and just tender, about 25 minutes total (you may not have to use all the liquid).
5.) Remove pan from heat. Stir in spinach, Parmesan, and butter; season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately (risotto will thicken as it cools), sprinkle with additional Parmesan, if desired).
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