A Quick Update
School starts in 3 days. OMG. It feels like time has FLOWN by super quickly.
I started work last Monday. We began with two days of PD with a workshop I've already taken last year. It's a program called Tribes which is a pretty big deal in Ontario and is quickly spreading across the country (it actually originated in Hawaii and I'm hearing is being used in schools all over the US). Anyways, this time around, I found it much more powerful - perhaps it was the staff, perhaps it was the fact that I can actually see a need to apply it now that I have a JOB!!
Anyways, the staff at the school are wonderful. There are at least 25+ new teachers (out of a staff of 60 or so) and most of the previous "seasoned" teachers have been shifted around so everyone is in a new grade and/or new classroom. Nobody knows where anybody is! It's all very exciting though. On top of that, there are also a couple of student teachers in the building, so it makes for a LOT of new faces. I can't tell you how glad I felt when I found out I wasn't the only newbie and when I received such a warm welcome. Lots of teachers dropped by my classroom offering help, materials or just someone to lean on. Of course, this being my first week and all, I'm just hoping that this friendly and welcoming atmosphere will only improve with time.
It's SO bizarre to have a job. Well, not that I didn't have a job before, but a teaching position. I guess because I was rejected so many times, I'm having a bit of a time processing that I've actually been HIRED! Apparently, there were about 70 applicants, from all over Canada that applied for the position I landed.. wow..! I think I'm just insanely lucky.. it's like winning the lottery. I keep reminding myself. Oh ya, back to what I was saying, it's weird having my OWN classroom, my OWN students, my OWN mailbox, my OWN photocopy code.. and being able to say "yes, I'm a TEACHER" without feeling like a wannabe. HEHE!
I've got plenty to say, but no time to say it. I'm moving tomorrow and have not packed at all. Ha! My time has been consumed with driving, classroom setup, lesson planning, material creation and purchasing (trying to set up your own classroom library really is hard work - painful too, because teachers buy their own books for their classes :S). I'm really about to go broke with everything that I need to buy. I've really tried not to spend on things I don't need - but it's hard - especially when you see classrooms around you that are beautifully setup and organized. You don't want your students to feel like they landed in the dump of a classroom. SO, if anyone out there has any old board games and books (esp. picture books) that they don't want.. you know who to call!
Alright. I must get to bed. I'm tired.. my brain and body are not agreeing with one another these days.. my brain is always saying "yo, get up, you have too many things to do to be sleeping!!" and my body says "!@#)(!*23 you brain!!"
Night!
JY
ps./ The pictures of my classroom *before*.
Silently Freaking Out!!!
AHHH!!! I've got SO MUCH TO DO!! Classroom setup, Unit/Lesson Planning, Classroom management planning, parent communication, assessment, MOVING.. the list goes on and on. I don't know how I'm going to survive! I'm FREAKING.
I spent most of the weekend working on lesson plans.. I'm already so terribly tired.. but I have to push on. I'm excited to meet the students, but I'm not sure if I'm being realistic about what my students will be like?!
Alright.. that's it for now. Short post.
My mind is spinning!!!
HOLY COW!! The day I've been waiting for has come! I got a teaching job!! OH MY MY MY MY!! I have my very own class! WOW!!!
Ok. I need to calm down. Breathe.
Alright. Last night, I was terribly jittery. I couldn't sleep. I kept waking up, my brain kept thinking "what will you do if you get the job?", "how will you get everything done?", "are you sure you want this job?", "what if you don't get the job?", etc. It just kept going and going. I anticipated that if I got the job, I would get the phone call in the morning. No phone call.
By lunch time today, I was pretty depressed. I really thought I had a great shot! Anyways, Chien Ee suggested I email the principal, so I did. Low and behold, a few hours later, I got a response. "I finally have word that we have 2 positions to offer. I would be pleased to offer you the grade 3 position if you are interested. It is a D contract for the year."
YES! I'm SO interested! SO, now, I have to not only prepare to move (find a place first) but also figure out what I'm going to teach, how I'm going to teach, what my classroom will look like, how I will manage the students, etc.. WOW. I guess you won't be seeing many posts on here for a while...??
How will it turn out?
OOooo!!! I JUST came back from an interview! I got a call from a principal in Saint John yesterday requesting for an interview for a grade 3 position. She happened to be coming to F'ton today for a conference, so she was able to interview me here in town.
Anyways, it was suppose to be a 15 minute interview, but it turned out to be slightly longer. I think it went WELL. Much better than my interview with the Sudbury district school board. It ended with her saying that I was a strong candidate and that my philosophies were evident in my answers and what I answered her questions well. Wooho! I'm optimistic. Regardless of the outcome, it was a good opportunity to practice and to have some reinforce my philosophies all the while giving me a boost in confidence. She said something that made me feel much better about my first teaching assignment: she said, it's not really about what your skills but about your philosophy - I can teach you the things you need to teach, but I can't change your philosophy and understanding of children. I can see myself being able to work under someone like her and I think that me being honest and open about what I can do and what I am still working on was a good thing!
That's it for now! Will know by Friday... (if the news is good, I'll probably post :P)
Almost a Week...
I can't believe that this time last week, we were struggling to sleep so that we could drive through the remainder of the night! WOW.. this week flew by fast!
NYC and Boston.. it was "interesting". It was boiling hot and there were MANY people.. NYC was packed. Entering into Times Square was AMAZING. The HUGE billboards, the flashing lights.. it was breathtaking in a very bizarre way. Perhaps overwhelming? We didn't have a whole lot of time to do anything besides visit the main points of interests: Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Times Square, Brooklin Bridge, Trump Tower, Wall Street, Rockefeller Center, Empire State Building, etc. With people crawling everywhere, the subway systems being maintained and our poor exhausted feet, we were lucky that we covered as much as we did! We didn't go up the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty because it would have taken too long... perhaps another time. I would have also liked to spend more time in the very large central park - it was beautiful! I was particularly fascinated by the trees in Central Park. When I first saw these trees, I thought they had been painted and that the paint was peeling off them. No indeed, this was their natural state! They are called Chinese Elm or Lacebark Elm!
Anyways, besides that, we saw a topless woman standing on the steps of some building (forget what building it was because we were much more focused on the half nude lady!!). I think she was poising for some photographer-artist.. because she quickly put her shirt back on after he took a couple of snaps. She was pretty gracious about it but obviously embarrassed.. I feel kind of bad for her.. who would want to do that and have a tour bus pass by!? Talk about bad timing!!
Alright. I'll write again later.. perhaps it will be slow at the office tomorrow and I'll have more time to get into things.
Ciao!
School starts in 3 days. OMG. It feels like time has FLOWN by super quickly.
I've got plenty to say, but no time to say it. I'm moving tomorrow and have not packed at all. Ha! My time has been consumed with driving, classroom setup, lesson planning, material creation and purchasing (trying to set up your own classroom library really is hard work - painful too, because teachers buy their own books for their classes :S). I'm really about to go broke with everything that I need to buy. I've really tried not to spend on things I don't need - but it's hard - especially when you see classrooms around you that are beautifully setup and organized. You don't want your students to feel like they landed in the dump of a classroom. SO, if anyone out there has any old board games and books (esp. picture books) that they don't want.. you know who to call!
