summer into fall

When I last wrote, I was anxiously looking forward to a new school year in a new role at a new school.
I kept wanting to write how fantastic it is, but wanted to wait for "the other shoe to drop". I historically end up in pretty miserable work situations...the kind that make me want to never see another Monday as long as I live, send me to doctors for stress-related illness, and cause many, many tears.
Somehow...the stars lined up just the right way...I was hired at a really great school this summer! I am doing the job I have been wishing for, teaching small groups of students who need reading support, and working typical teaching hours. The administration is great, and so far, very level-headed. The other teachers actually respect me. They are kind, encouraging, supportive, and cooperative. There is no junior high type gossiping. There is no tattling. There are no unreasonable and malicious rumors. I love it here!!!

So that is what brought me from summer into fall this year.
As the cool weather rolled in (I saw snowflakes Friday!) my favorite winter time passtime has made a come back, I am spending a LOT of time crocheting. This also has a lot to do with football and hockey. Thanks, Dan.

Hopefully my first big project will be done and posted this week....meanwhile, I will enjoy this Sunday afternoon and continue working on a mini-project while 'watching' football this evening. And look forward to work tomorrow.

changes

Change is a good thing. Change can make you feel better. hopeful. excited.

Change is a scary thing. Change can make you feel frightened. anxious. worried.

This is what the beginning of a new school year is about: new clothes, new haircuts, new teachers, maybe new buildings. And, this is the same for teachers as children. This year, I will be a new teacher again. I am teaching in a new school, in a new city. I have a new role, teaching reading to students who most need it. I have a building full of new teachers to meet.

And I know how those kids are going to feel this year. As much as this change is a good thing --- a really, really good thing --- its scary to leave the comfort of the room I knew, the role I knew, and most of all the kids I know. I had reached the point of knowing almost all the kids in the school. I knew parents, I knew the teachers' stories. Now, I am the new kid on the block again. I am so excited when I think of all the positives of this new adventure, but still I have those "new kid butterflies".

We'll all be OK. The butterflies will leave our bellies and help us fly to new, wonderful places, where we should be. If you are bringing a child to school for the first time, or the first time just for this year, you can tell them that the teachers feel the same way. And mean it.