The Joys of Teaching

Well I have been gone for too long!!  Sorry for the blogging drought- I am pretty sure I have lost all of my readers out there... but it has been a rough two weeks!  I officially had my first week in my new job with teacher workdays and then I had my first week with students as a teacher at Hilton Head Island High School.  Besides the few near complete break downs and going to bed at 845 and waking up at 5 am, it has actually been a pretty positive 2 weeks- I will start with the good...

Things I Love about my new job!
-I have excellent technology in my classroom! they even gave me a laptop unlike my last school where I took my own every day
-I have all my students year round (this can also be bad- see below)
-I work with very smart and professional people who take their jobs seriously
-I have a new work friend named Heather- she teaches SPED
-My room is cold and not musty!
-I am not in charge of textbooks- Praise the Lord!
-Our school colors are UNC blue and navy
-My AP students already know things such has all of the US Wars and who MLK, Tubman, the Grimke Sisters, and the Mayans are- and they use words like bias, perspective, and "culturally sensitive" (and they are only in 10th grade)
-My students wear uniforms

Things I am Learning to Love about my New Job (Staying Positive Here)

-I commute over an hour each way
-I cannot make my own copies- EVER- I have to submit them and wait til the next day, and I am pretty sure I will be over my limit by October, so please buy me reams of paper for Xmas
-I have my students ALL YEAR LONG (oh, 4th block)
-I have a floater in my room during my planning
-I still do not have an email account, log in, or am on payroll after week 2
-There is not really a teacher work room or area to congregate
-Getting supplies is like squeezing water out of a cactus
-I have a new prep- it is like being a 1st year all over again
-I have the 4th block bad boys on B days (thank god we rotate days)

So there you have it!  I survived the first week!!! I accidentally made fun of a boy because he told me his name was Storm and I thought he was joking, and then I had the class during the fire drill who were taking their shirts off and running around like a bunch of crazy kids, but...... I haven't quit yet! (or gotten fired!).

Luckily for Jason (ha) he was on first shift both weeks, so he got to tuck me in at 8 o'clock each night and make sure I had a lunch packed for the next day.  What a great husband he is to marry a teacher, because it is not a normal career choice.  We get exhausted and cranky and we really don't want to talk about anything by the end of the day.  And we cry alot during the first week of school!  But next week is the second week so it is all up hill!

Tonight Jason is meeting me for our first home football game and then we are staying the night with Gene and Nancy.  Gene is my Aunt Sarah's brother who lives here on the island and has been great to me and Jason helping us find a new place to live and give us directions all of the time.  Tomorrow we plan to explore the island and hit the beaches to compare them to Tybee Island!
More posts will come!