Here goes nothing...

I am preparing for my first teaching position. I will be teaching first grade at a charter school in a high-poverty area. I am very excited and nervous at the same time. I have been certified for several years, but I have been working in the corporate world, until the last year when I began pursuing my Masters in Education full-time and substitute teaching. I will be finishing my Masters this coming December, and enduring my first few months of teaching.

Going into this job, I knew that it would be stressful and exhausting, but I did not realize that it would be so crazy before school even began! This week has been all about learning the ropes of the school, setting up my classroom, organizing, and getting lesson plans ready for the first week of school.... and now I'm just hoping that I survive it!

While realizing how tired I am without even having students, I realized that the next few months I will probably be in somewhat of a hole... you know... in bed by 9 (which I haven't done since middle school) and too tired to do anything but grade a few papers, pour a glass of wine, take a bubble bath, and call it a night.... so I figured a blog would be a good way for my family and friends to keep up with my trials (and successes, of course) over the coming months. Also, I figure that kids are pretty funny... so I'll probably have some great stories to share.... so stay tuned!!

Here are some pictures of my classroom when I saw it for the first time last week... if it looks small... that's because it is! And yes that is an "accordion" wall that separates me from the other first grade class.