Wow, What a Week

My old classroom, packing up

 This has been quite a week. Packing up all my stuff at one school. Unpacking my stuff at another school and setting up a classroom. Meeting a group of second graders for the first time. Helping kids from two previous classrooms merge into one new classroom. Figuring out the schedule - where we need to be when - and sometimes just finding my way around. And the week has been full...and good.

For #kinderblog13 this summer, the prompts have been one word. I participated in some of the suggestions. But when "fear" was the prompt, I opted out. I had already alluded to my fear in the post about change. I mulled that my new principal may not ask me to stay next year. Well, that fear was realized quickly when I was displaced, not next year but this year...now.

My new classroom before set-up

As I settle into my new school and my new role as a second grade teacher, I'm beginning to see some possible reasons that I have moved. First, in my new school there are about 60 second graders. They were in two classes and now they are in three classes. My move should help the kids and teachers have a more productive learning year, i.e., smaller class size could allow more attention to individual learning. How could I balk at helping with that?

But I've also seen some personal reasons. I already see that I will need to grow and learn as a teacher in developing lesson plans. The team at my other school was wonderful; they were helpful and we worked together at planning. (Well, I took more than I gave.) My new team is wonderful. We talked about the plans for next week. But I'm going to need to do more work reviewing expectations and meeting the requirements...on my own. That's a great thing (even if more work). And, since it's a completely new grade level, I'm working harder to know what to teach and how to teach it.

Just a short time but I'm already seeing why this change may have happened. What I feared happened (and much quicker than I even feared) and it's okay.