The last two weeks have basically turned my world on its side ... in a good way. In the kind of way that keeps me up at night because I can't slow my brain or body down with all the positive energy. I'm almost waiting for something bad to happen, though there has been some bad news in these two awesome weeks.
First of all, last Wednesday, Megan (our newest, fabulous English teacher), Melanie (our awesome literacy coach), and I sat down for an entire day to plan a new English 9 curriculum for OTHS. We basically scrapped what was down, and started over, focusing on skills rather than content. We want our freshman to leave our English classes knowing how to approach reading/writing on their own. That isn't something that happens right now. We're going to have an overarching, yearlong theme of IDENTITY for all 9th graders. Within that there will be units on personal, cultural, and interpersonal identity. We're planning to use Speak as a class novel, choose some YAL that's cultural, and read Romeo and Juliet. The stuff we have planned is a dream ... it's going to be a ton of work, but it's going to be good work as well.
Another thing keeping me up at night (in positive ways) has been some prospects on the personal side. I refuse to put too much detail in here, but it's exciting and scary and making me wonder. I consider myself to be a confident person. I have a good handle who I am and who I want to be; I know myself. I think I'm a good person - a caretaker, a friend, a daughter/niece, and a teacher. Somehow, though, I can't seem to imagine why in the world someone would be interested in me. You know, the "LIKE, like" interested. It baffles me ... although I think I have a lot going for me, I also know that I can be excessively irritating. There are times when even I don't want to me near me (and that's saying something). When I ponder this kind of thing, I question myself. I question how I can be confident without knowing what would be appealing to another person. I suppose I can guess at things that would attract someone, but ... it's just too confusing. And, with 26 years of single, I'm not getting any younger. I've come to a point where my students want to try to find me a man. Oye.
The most recent development interrupting my sleep routines is the development of Freshman Teams at my school. Administration wants to develop a team of the core contents in order to provide better monitoring of students and a better transition from middle school to high school. There were 8 of us asked to join these teams (2 per content). Megan and I were the lucky English ladies, and it's exciting. I love that they chose us for a number of reasons: 1-They must want me/us around for at least another year 2- we just did all the work on the curriculum and 3- teamwork (not just in this context) is something I really enjoy and thrive upon. While there are many wonderful things that come with these teams, there is one HUGE downfall for me: I'm going to have to give up my current group of sophomore ATS kids (ATS is basically a 30 min study hall everyday).
A lot of people at my school HATE their ATS groups; I love mine. I love so much that on my way home from choir tonight I cried when I thought about how I will break the news to them that we won't all be together next year. These kids, they're amazing. Smart, funny, fun, hardworking ... I, all kidding aside, have THE BEST group of kids for ATS. I should have kept them through their graduation, but with the schedule that will go along with teaming, I can't. They'll be placed with another teacher, and I really don't know what I'm going to do. I've seen these guys every day for a year and a half now - most of the time it's the best part of my day. It's not that I wont' ever see them, it's that we have a group. We're bonded (and I'm fully aware of how cheesy that sounds). I didn't think I'd ever become as attached to a group of kids as I did my first year teaching, but I did. I hate that I let it happen, but it's one of the best things I've done.
We hear all the time about how important it is for students to feel connected at school; I think the same is true for teachers. These kids keep me refreshed, and energized. They know me. They know when to leave me alone and when to chat it up - they're awesome. I love them. I tried to not get attached because I knew this would happen; this sadness. But, I'll tell you (whoever you are reading this), the fun days make it seem worth the sadness.
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