As a teacher, my new year doesn't start in January, but every time August rolls around and the back to school celebrations begin. Back to school, for teachers, is a happy new year. It is a new roster, possibly a new subject, maybe a new classroom, and definitely a new beginning.
For me, this year is all of those.
I have three new rosters. Since I teach freshmen, I almost never know the students I'm getting. Since no one in my building really does, I don't have to hear judgments made by other teachers. I get to form my own opinions.
I have a new subject this year. I'm teaching English II honors for the first time ever. The last time I taught English II, I taught it to repeaters and I was a third year teacher (infer that I didn't have a clue what I was doing). This will be my first foray into the honors level. I'm not a little apprehensive about dealing with this type of student. It will be a learning process for me.
I, and the rest of the freshmen teachers, have new classrooms. My school is the recipient of a school improvement grant, so we have an isolated freshmen academy, a literacy coach, a math coach, and a technology coach. What took me a month to pack up has taken me several hours to unload. But it may take me the entire first nine weeks to find a new home for everything.
This year brings lots of new beginnings for me, as it does for every teacher out there going back into the classroom. That is why we get into this business--no matter what happened last year, we get another new beginning. And if this year is a wash, we get another one. And another one. We get endless chances to perfect our craft and grow as professionals. Happy New Year to all teachers!
