Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Why I am here.

Hello friendlies! 

I want to start out by saying that I am new. I am new to teaching and new to blogging. I'm not super great at this stuff, but I'm going to try. I started out this summer, like so many teachers, completely unsure of what my job status would be come September. Also like so many of my colleagues, I applied to a lot of jobs. And I mean, a lot of jobs. I got many denials, and two interviews. I loved interviewing simply for the experience. I hated the wait after to see if I was going to be offered the job. 

Long story short (sometime I'll probably tell the saga that was the days surrounding the interview for my current position) I got a job! Whew! My very first job. I officially became a high school English teacher. Within two weeks I had quit a job I had been at for eight years, packed up my place and moved 350 miles down south within the state to my new home. These first few days have been...overwhelming for sure. They have also been full of learning new things, meeting wonderful people and really getting excited about the new year. 

Okay, now to be honest. I am also scared out of my mind. I am assured by my more experienced colleagues that this is completely normal. Well, normal it may be, but that doesn't help temper the absolute panic that courses through my veins. It is hard though because like I said, I also have this burning hot excitement for the new year and this new adventure. The bright side is that I do know what I am teaching (9th Grade English and Creative Writing) and I am lucky enough to be in both a district and building that has given me a ton of support. Plus, I have heard nothing but positive things about the group of students we have (and really, isn't it all about the students?). 

So, why blog about it? There are a few reasons: first, I tend to process via writing and my hope is that this will be a forum to help problem solve. Second, I recognize that blogging is an extremely popular thing and many new teachers blog which makes this blog somewhat like a salmon in a river of other salmons; I also recognize that there may be others who can help me and who I may be able to help. We all have different perspectives and it is important to be able to reach them all. Also, I am toying with the idea of having my students blog, so I want to practice it and see if I agree with the format first.

My hope is that people do read this blog (even if the only person to read it is my mother). I will probably rant a bit, hopefully share some cool things in my classroom and some fun (anonymous) stories from my students and both give and receive some excellent advice. So, if you are interested, hopefully I'll post often and you enjoy the journey of my teaching life. 

Thanks!
Jo

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