Teacher!

Warning: This is a personal post about my experiences as a teacher these last 10 months. So skip right over it this is something that bores you.

I did it! I survived my first year of teaching. What a year. I can honestly say now that I am very glad I took this job and opportunity. I’m sitting in my bunker of an office on the very last day, smiling, cause I made it. I am a teacher now. I've been through parent-teacher interviews, phone calls home, amazing students, and not so amazing students. I've done report cards and comments. I've written and marked tests and assignments. I've dealt with classroom management issues, made seating plans, re-made seating plans, created lessons, rocked lessons, and had some utter fails. I've learned more these last 10 months about teaching than all I learned at University (this is not meant as a dig at my University education, just a statement about the sheer volume of learning and the VERY steep learning curve that accompanies a first year teacher).  It was a rough start. I took over as the foods teacher at Vimy Ridge Academy after the current and long-standing teacher suddenly passed away 3 weeks into the school year. Not only was this my first ever teaching assignment, I was coming in to a sensitive situation, with no time to plan and prepare myself. My assignment was three junior high classes, grade 7, 8, and 9, and one high school class that had students in the Foods 10, 20, 30 program (grade 10, 11, 12). I only worked the mornings, so I was part-time, but with 6 classes to plan for, it definitely felt full-time, and the hours I put in during the first 3 months were definitely full time. And so, survival mode kicked in, and I made it work. I went from literally not knowing anything (I am not a culinary expert), and not knowing where anything was, to learning the curriculum myself and teaching it to my students.

One thing I learned is you will not be the expert teacher that you want to be. Not after the first week, first month, and even first year. I had such high expectations for myself, how I wanted things to run, how I would manage my class, the relationships I wanted with my students, and other staff. It was not panning out as planned, and I was frustrated. However, once I got over that fact that it would take some time before I became the perfect teacher, and got a little perspective, things started to work out. With this said, I also learned that you can’t make any major career decisions until you have at least finished your first year, and probably should wait at least two years. Many times I thought “Do I really want to be a teacher? Is this what I want? How I want to feel? How I want to be treated?” Of course there are bad days, but there are good days too. There is so much that falls under a teacher’s scope, some of which you only experience once or twice a year, that you can’t make any rash judgments. I was lucky that my junior high classes went through a rotation, and so by the end of the year I had taught some of my material, and gone through the junior high program 4 times. My last time was definitely better than my first. You learn something every time you do a lesson, or a lab, or a project. I still would change things if I was to do it again. You need to give yourself time.

So, I’m realizing that this post could go on, and on, and on. I have learned too much to write all about it in one post. I am a different teacher, and probably different person now, than I was in September. I’d like to think I’m a little bit closer to being the teacher that I want to be. I feel much better about the way I manage my classes and students. I've created good relationships with students and staff, and I really enjoyed coming to work these last few months. I’m not just smiling in my office because it’s all over and I survived, but that I survived with style and a little success too.

I just received an email from a parent volunteer. Jane used to volunteer with the previous foods teacher, and decided to continue volunteering for me. She once taught foods before she had her own kids, and has three kids at the school, two of which I taught. She came in once a week to help with the kids, cooking, and cleaning. She was wonderful. Here’s her email: “Thanks for the volunteering opportunity.  You made the program such a success after the tragedy.  Have a wonderful summer with your family." This makes me smile too.

Before I end, I have to say that I could not have done it without the support and love of my husband Chris. Sounds cliché I know, but it’s so true. I couldn’t have made it through the first couple of months without him. Never once did he doubt me, or think we had made the wrong decision. He always gave me the time I needed (and we were both very busy, he was in his last year of engineering), and gave me the extra confidence I needed. He was always grateful for the job, even when I wasn’t. Thanks Chris.

And thanks Macy and her wonderful babysitters. I've already roasted them, but they have been great, and Macy has been wonderful throughout it all. I’m so glad to be her mom.

As for next year, my contract expires today. There are cutbacks to teachers, and I am not the only one not knowing what will happen in September. I’m not worried though. Baby #2 is on the way, and I’m excited to spend more time with family.

Happy Summer and be nice to your teachers!