Back to the Classroom!
It’s been more than 7 years since I have been in a classroom teaching, but here I go again! Starting this Fall, actually starting way back in May, I will be the new 3 year old teacher at Annunciation Strong Start Early Learning Academy! Many of you know this all ready, but I’m posting more-so because of all the work I forgot there was to teaching!
I have a feeling non-teachers think that we just show up in a classroom and have everything at our fingertips. Or it’s all inside secret manuals that tell us what needs to be done each day in order to have a successful year. While there are manuals out there, that is not always the best way to prepare for your students to ensure their success in your class. It goes way beyond that to make an interesting, inspiring, engaging classroom environment and most of the time – you don’t even know who is in your class yet!!
For the past two months I have been thrust back into reading through State Standards, thinking up activities, going on Pinterest (A LOT!!! Thank GOD for Pinterest!!), selecting themes for the ENTIRE year, writing lesson plans, planning an organizational structure, planning classroom management, shopping for things I think I’ll need, and going through all our girls’ toys in our basement (and garage sales) to see what we can use in our room.
The classroom I’m going into is brand new and had to be built from scratch. There was no walking into a ready-made room and only have to follow what someone else had done. I’ve had to construct my own curriculum for teaching this class and it has been so much fun! This is what I went to school for and I am so extremely thankful that these people have faith in my ability to succeed. I honestly have felt like I was back in college with all the construction I’ve been doing for this class.
At the same time, I am really nervous! When you walk into a room that has all ready been successful, you may find things you want to change but have the opportunity to keep the things that are all ready in place that work. Here, it will be trial and error until we get it right. I have a wonderful aide who will be working with me and I am sure that together we will have many successes, I just hope it’s a short road to get there! Plus, it’s somehow already August!! There’s only a month and a few days until it is really here and I will be teaching again!
I know I’ve been doing a lot of work so far to prepare for the upcoming school year, but I hope I’ve done enough to truly be ready. This is the very first school experience many of these little ones will have had and I want it to be a positive one. Only time will tell, however and I can’t wait to see how it all turns out!