My new life
I'm a middle school teacher! It seems kind of funny to me, but every time I've met someone new over the last few weeks and explained how I moved from 3rd grade to 7th/8th, their main response has been something along the lines of, "Wow, that's quite the change!" And, to be honest, it has been a change...a good change...a change that I think I needed. Not that it was easy though. It wasn't easy knowing that I wouldn't be around the friends that I've made over the last 12 years at the elementary school. So much so that I spent a lot of my inservice days sitting with them to catch up on the summer news and have a few more days with them. Another colleague, who noticed this, asked me if everything was okay with my transition to the middle school--it was nice to know she cared, and I let her know I just wanted to spend a little more time with my old friends :-)
It also wasn't easy knowing that I wouldn't have all my regular routines to fall back on like I've had in the past. But I've really connected with my 7th and 8th grade science colleagues, and they've helped me adjust to my new surroundings and the beginning-of-year things to take care of. I have similarities to both of their teaching styles, so I will be able to learn from them and make it my own. I spent some of my prep time today observing one of their classrooms. It's not like we are already deep into science concepts or anything already--I just wanted to get the flow of the room and see how he interacted with the students to compare with how I think I have been running my room, and I feel like I saw a lot of connections between our rooms, so that put me at ease to know that I'm probably doing things right. One of my goals that I had for myself this year was to try to regularly get into some of the other classrooms so that I could get a full handle on middle school life (since the last time I really spent any time in a middle school was student teaching). I know there are a lot of great teachers at my school, so I shouldn't be at a loss to find rooms to observe.
And, of course, it wasn't easy (at first) to think about working with a different age level of students...ones with changing hormones and attitudes and body odor :-) But some of my elementary school friends who have spent time in middle school told me I would love working with the middle school students, and I have. I'm working with some great kids. Some kids I've taught before, some kids I recognize from when they were in other classrooms in 3rd grade, and some kids that are brand new to me. I already have all 74 of their names memorized--no table tent name tags needed in my room :-) Sure, there are a couple that I can already tell will keep me on my toes, but that's nothing new...I had that back in 3rd grade.
I'm a new middle school teacher in a new middle school with great new kids and great new colleagues. I've got this!
It's back! With the start of a new school year, the mindfulness thoughts of the week return! This one comes from our school counselors: In a world where you can be anything, be kind!
It also wasn't easy knowing that I wouldn't have all my regular routines to fall back on like I've had in the past. But I've really connected with my 7th and 8th grade science colleagues, and they've helped me adjust to my new surroundings and the beginning-of-year things to take care of. I have similarities to both of their teaching styles, so I will be able to learn from them and make it my own. I spent some of my prep time today observing one of their classrooms. It's not like we are already deep into science concepts or anything already--I just wanted to get the flow of the room and see how he interacted with the students to compare with how I think I have been running my room, and I feel like I saw a lot of connections between our rooms, so that put me at ease to know that I'm probably doing things right. One of my goals that I had for myself this year was to try to regularly get into some of the other classrooms so that I could get a full handle on middle school life (since the last time I really spent any time in a middle school was student teaching). I know there are a lot of great teachers at my school, so I shouldn't be at a loss to find rooms to observe.
And, of course, it wasn't easy (at first) to think about working with a different age level of students...ones with changing hormones and attitudes and body odor :-) But some of my elementary school friends who have spent time in middle school told me I would love working with the middle school students, and I have. I'm working with some great kids. Some kids I've taught before, some kids I recognize from when they were in other classrooms in 3rd grade, and some kids that are brand new to me. I already have all 74 of their names memorized--no table tent name tags needed in my room :-) Sure, there are a couple that I can already tell will keep me on my toes, but that's nothing new...I had that back in 3rd grade.
I'm a new middle school teacher in a new middle school with great new kids and great new colleagues. I've got this!
It's back! With the start of a new school year, the mindfulness thoughts of the week return! This one comes from our school counselors: In a world where you can be anything, be kind!
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