A week gone by, in which I did not finish setting up my classroom, but I made a good start. They say it looks empty because I haven't accumulated any stuff yet, and I feel like that's a good thing. The room is clean and empty, waiting for the new year to start. I'm hoping the students will actually want to put stuff on the walls. If not, that's what they have portfolios and I have posters for. It says in the Developmental Designs book that 8th grade is a really private year, but I hope at least some of them will come out of their shells enough to engage me.
I am worried about discipline, management, and all that stuff, of course, but all the teachers on my floor were taking bets that I wouldn't have any trouble just because I would be fun and engaging and they would want to shut up and listen to me. I am praying that's true, but also seeing my "teacher walk" start to come in and knowing that I do have more than enough stage presence when I need it, and that despite what two years of people at Pardes and a seminar with Lisa Lahey say, I do act plenty loud and plenty assertive when I'm the one in charge and I need to make things work. And I am thankful every day for a school that wants to build me up, and believe in me, instead of tearing me down and saying all the time how hard it's going to be.
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