Isn't it amazing how teaching is cyclical? Good days follow bad, you build on what you taught previously, and then return to teach it again...and a new blogger replaces the old! I am a new teacher at Carroll Middle School, in Lumberton, NC. I teach a sixth grade, self-contained classroom of 25 wonderful students.
We have 12 sixth grade teachers, and 9 of us are new--new to CMS, new to NC, and new to teaching. It has been an amazing bonding experience for us--we rely on each other to get through the good and bad times. We are each other's support system, family, and friends. I have never had such a great team to work with, and am so grateful for all they do for me. I can only hope that other new teachers have the same good fortune to be able to ask all the stupid questions (I know, I know, but you and I know that some of them are stupid) you have, some of them several times, and have them answered with patience and laughter.
We have alot of challenges at CMS this year--a new team, to make AYP for the second year in a row, EOG's, creating a unified sixth grade that is consistent and tight knit, and bring our students up to the level they need to be for 7th grade. I think that those challenges are the same for all of us in education. However, we also have so many tremendous opportunities. We can do things that are not traditional, we never get told "We did it this way last year", or "We've never done it that way before", we all are committed to making this year memorable and significant for our students and ourselves, and we all love our jobs. One thing we all agree on at CMS is that life is too short to do something you hate for 70 hours a week--and that if you hate teaching, children, or if teaching is just a "job", you need to get out of the classroom!
We are all a little green, and still a little starry-eyed, but I know for me, the reality of teaching has begun to sink in. I work 15 hours a day, and most of my weekend is spent on preparing for the following week. I am heavily invested in vitamins and a great mattress, and love being able to go to bed early, and sleep late. I know what it is like, now, to cry when my students leave my class for the day because I am so frustrated and at my wits' end, and I know what it is like to feel depressed and a failure, because so many of my students did not pass a test that we spent an enormous (for me) amount of time preparing for.
Happily, I also know what it is like to be able to cry tears of joy, because a student chose to send a thank you letter to me, telling me I was his favorite teacher in the class (I laughed, too), and another sent me a thank you, telling me he was so glad that I moved all the way from Chicago to be his teacher. I also got to ride in a hot-air balloon at school, get recognized by my principal at a staff meeting for my enthusiasm (I was just being my usual kooky self), and have a variety of hysterical moments with my co-workers.
Here's hoping that everyone loves their job, has the support they need, and can find joy in their heart at the end of the day.
Blog posted by October writer Kate Behm, sixth grade teacher Carroll Middle School in Lumberton.
We have 12 sixth grade teachers, and 9 of us are new--new to CMS, new to NC, and new to teaching. It has been an amazing bonding experience for us--we rely on each other to get through the good and bad times. We are each other's support system, family, and friends. I have never had such a great team to work with, and am so grateful for all they do for me. I can only hope that other new teachers have the same good fortune to be able to ask all the stupid questions (I know, I know, but you and I know that some of them are stupid) you have, some of them several times, and have them answered with patience and laughter.
We have alot of challenges at CMS this year--a new team, to make AYP for the second year in a row, EOG's, creating a unified sixth grade that is consistent and tight knit, and bring our students up to the level they need to be for 7th grade. I think that those challenges are the same for all of us in education. However, we also have so many tremendous opportunities. We can do things that are not traditional, we never get told "We did it this way last year", or "We've never done it that way before", we all are committed to making this year memorable and significant for our students and ourselves, and we all love our jobs. One thing we all agree on at CMS is that life is too short to do something you hate for 70 hours a week--and that if you hate teaching, children, or if teaching is just a "job", you need to get out of the classroom!
We are all a little green, and still a little starry-eyed, but I know for me, the reality of teaching has begun to sink in. I work 15 hours a day, and most of my weekend is spent on preparing for the following week. I am heavily invested in vitamins and a great mattress, and love being able to go to bed early, and sleep late. I know what it is like, now, to cry when my students leave my class for the day because I am so frustrated and at my wits' end, and I know what it is like to feel depressed and a failure, because so many of my students did not pass a test that we spent an enormous (for me) amount of time preparing for.
Happily, I also know what it is like to be able to cry tears of joy, because a student chose to send a thank you letter to me, telling me I was his favorite teacher in the class (I laughed, too), and another sent me a thank you, telling me he was so glad that I moved all the way from Chicago to be his teacher. I also got to ride in a hot-air balloon at school, get recognized by my principal at a staff meeting for my enthusiasm (I was just being my usual kooky self), and have a variety of hysterical moments with my co-workers.
Here's hoping that everyone loves their job, has the support they need, and can find joy in their heart at the end of the day.
Blog posted by October writer Kate Behm, sixth grade teacher Carroll Middle School in Lumberton.
