(no subject)
Today I'm going to my new classroom and organizing things! They painted the walls either yesterday or the day before, so things will be ready for me to start putting things in order. The teacher before me was only here one year and she did her own thing so all the stuff from the previous teacher is still here - and she had everything! So many papers and copies and books and craft ideas to go through. Will I never use it? Should I keep it just in case? Is this something I actually want? Seriously, there's 6 drawers in 2 filing cabinets full of semi-organized papers. There's around 300 books, I'd say too. Plus all the stuff that's just covering the desks because I had to get everything away from the walls. It's a huge task! And I'm crying a lot on the inside. The other teachers keep asking me if I'm getting overwhelmed, and I'm even trying to say no, I'm fine - it's a definite yes.
Once I get a handle on just the classroom being organized, I have to start planning all the lessons. Starting with the fact that I have all the books in my room at home and am trying to just figure out the general sequence of things, my principal tells me I don't have to cover everything - but I'm like, "What can I leave out!?" If she's here today, I'm going to ask her what I don't need to teacher - because, like with history - unless we're doing 4 chapters a month, there's no way it's going to fit. Plus, it's American history and there's no way you can cram all those wars into anything less than a month. I've really only looked at history and math so far - but I had to stop myself because I was moving things around and cutting them up and realized, what if no of this was okay with my principal and I did all that work for nothing?
So, yes, I'm overwhelmed - but I'm doing a bit every day - and it is the beginning of summer. I have time. I just can't give up!
Just keep swimming... just keep swimming!
Once I get a handle on just the classroom being organized, I have to start planning all the lessons. Starting with the fact that I have all the books in my room at home and am trying to just figure out the general sequence of things, my principal tells me I don't have to cover everything - but I'm like, "What can I leave out!?" If she's here today, I'm going to ask her what I don't need to teacher - because, like with history - unless we're doing 4 chapters a month, there's no way it's going to fit. Plus, it's American history and there's no way you can cram all those wars into anything less than a month. I've really only looked at history and math so far - but I had to stop myself because I was moving things around and cutting them up and realized, what if no of this was okay with my principal and I did all that work for nothing?
So, yes, I'm overwhelmed - but I'm doing a bit every day - and it is the beginning of summer. I have time. I just can't give up!
Just keep swimming... just keep swimming!