I’ve spent forEVER working for this, and FINALLY things are starting to fall into place! The past 4 years have consisted of working by butt off for little or no pay, so I feel like this is LONG overdue…

I start THURSDAY teaching 10th grade World Lit at a charter school just a little south of Atlanta. I’m actually freaking out a little because I have absolutely no time to prepare for this… the rest of today will be spent writing a letter to the parents and prepping a classroom management plan. Tomorrow, I’ll go speak to the current long-term sub, and plan out the rest of the week. Then Thursday, it’s day 1 with my new classes!

I already met some of the kids, because during part of the interview process, I came in to teach their classes while being observed by the principals. The kids I met were awesome, and since it’s a charter school, the class sizes are just 15-20 students. (ROCK!) I will be the only 10th grade English teacher in the school, which is both scary and exciting. That means I’ll have a lot of freedom with planning, but no support from other teachers. The parents are required to do 20 hours of volunteer work each month, which means I can solicit them to help out with activities and field trips! Also, it’s a year-round school, which means lots of shorter periodic breaks instead of a 2 month stretch of summer.

I am both beyond excited, and also terrified. The pressure is making me feel kinda sick right now, but I know that once I get started, I will love it. I’m also stressed about my living situation- I need to find an apartment in Atlanta ASAP. I’ve called a few friends, but I might end up having to fork up the cash for a 1 BR for the time being. I can’t wait to live in the city again! I have so missed it!

YAY!

(Source: global-revolutions)

Now in my fourth week of teaching high school theatre… :) When I first got this long-term position, I was sorta like, bleh, I suck at acting, but it’s a job… But now it is so much fun! And.. WAY easier than teaching Lit classes. It turns out you don’t really need to be a phenomenal actor to teach HS Theatre.. you just have to have to be able to critique it, direct it, control large groups of hyper kids, interpret plays, and know the history/context, which all came more naturally to me than I thought. I guess that’s what English teachers do too.

Also, I feel like I’m learning a lot because I’m being forced to teach something that I don’t normally teach. Now I know how I can incorporate more drama into my English classroom when I get the chance.

Stagecraft is especially fun right now because we are building the set for Alice in Wonderland. We get to use powertools and bright pink paint! What could be better?! It’s so cool getting to be creative and design sets! The kids mostly just want to build stuff, so I just tell them what to do. No one has any artistic ability, and no one wants to try, so I get to design all the trees. :)

oh, and also- fine arts departments are fun. ;) almost as cool as the english department.

yay.