Adventures in teaching

I'm a teacher, mid 30s. This is a southern state, where we start and end school early. I'm not from here, originally. There are things I'm still getting used to. Like the fact that anything under the sun is more important than schoolwork. Lke weeknight church activities or sports. It's amazing to see how big the sports section of the newspaper is. It's a big deal when there's no sports report on the late news. I've only seen that happen once.

Trying to close out the school year. It didn't come soon enough for me. This has been a tough one. Things are changing, people are tired, and it just isn't quite the same place it was when I came here a few years ago. I'm starting to think about moving on, and I'm not the only one.

Had lots of help in putting my stuff away. There was some confusion about moving or not moving to a different classroom. In the end, I get to stay put for a change. And, I finally got some of my stuff halfway organized. It was all still a jumbled mess from last summer. Haven't decided yet whether or when to take some of the extra stuff and put it in storage. I hate to get rid of anything, being a pack rat. Besides, there's no telling where I'll end up in a year or two. Or what I'll be teaching here, for that matter. I might need the non-science materials. Don't want to have to repurchase/recreate all that crap.

Still waiting for the final word on my fall schedule. It would be nice to know what I'll be teaching so that I can take some time to prepare. At least I think so. Apparently I don't have much company, since I never know what I'll be teaching until I get back to work. Sometimes school starts and it's still changing. Can you picture a doctor not knowing which department he'll be working in until he walks in for the first day on the job? Or a cop not knowing where he'll be on patrol until he gets into the car?

I'm extremely ready to be done and out, and trying very hard to not be too down on the whole experience of this year. I want to be optimistic about what's coming. And there's some good stuff coming. Too bad it's not at the school. Some really cool workshops coming up that I'll enjoy. A meeting in Florida. A workshop and some ocean studies on the west coast later on. Funny how all of the really good stuff is not happening at the school.

There were some really fun things we did. Unfortunately, I was so stressed for a lot of the time that I couldn't really enjoy it and don't quite remember it all. Plus, not having the time/energy to really figure out good stuff to do. Time, because all the 'planning' time gets eaten up with meetings, conferences, paperwork, discipline, etc. Energy because at the end of the day, who wants to deal with any more of that crap?

I have my volunteer interview coming up. Really hope it goes well. It would be nice to have something outside of school to think about at the end of the day/week.