It started with a pretty bad Wednesday. I actually can't remember specifically what happened because last year I had so many insanely stressful days that they kind of blurred together.
Whenever I experienced those really stressful days I would ask myself "Are you doing everything you can to change this??" So, I slowly started creating my resume, and updating my cover letter and bit by bit it would help the stress. Even if I didn't actually apply for a position just knowing that "I could...when I was ready". So sure enough when it was time to submit applications for the upcoming school year I had everything ready and submitted my resume and cover letter.
I actually started applying for other positions such Lead Tech Positions. I am very interested in helping teachers improve technology and incorporating more science-based activities in the classroom so when I saw something like this I was like..yea this is for me.
Anyway, despite that there were no positions for me when I started this process and even if they were I wasn't overly confident I would get the positions. My area has pretty high competition even for Science.
But, then finally a position at a school that I actually have always wanted to work at AND right down the road from where I live became available. I applied.
I waited...
and waited a whole 7 days and didn't hear anything..not even "We are reviewing your application".
Then.. the bad Wednesday happened. Again, I don't know what happened. Perhaps a student was jumping off my tables or swinging from the ceiling. Perhaps I got cursed out or got called a racist for the millionth time. Who knows...all I know was in that moment I had asked myself "Am I doing everything I can to change this?"
So I cold-emailed the principal and in short was like..."You need to interview me.."
Again, I wasn't sure if I would even get a response. I mean a principal receives 100s of emails a day. Mine was definitely going to get lost so it was more about if I felt like I was doing everything I can to change my circumstances.
Well...in the end it turned out in my favor and I got a new job! It was a bit tough because I really liked my coworkers at my previous school but I was coming home stressed out and deep down I was ready for a change so I had to jump at this opportunity.
What does it feel like to be at a new school?
It definitely feels different. I was at my previous school for 5 years and it was the first school I taught at so everything I experience gets compared to my first school so it feels different almost as if I'm just visiting. However despite those feelings I have been making my room more welcoming and really trying to connect with the students.
There are so many things to learn when you go to a new school not just the content you are teaching but also their new procedures and expectations. Some are similar to my previous school but there are a lot that are not. In addition to that there is more structure so it is also making sure that I also stay organized and structure to maintain the integrity of the whole system.
I'm entering into the 2nd week of school and so far everything has been going great. The students are awesome and work/life balance has greatly improved. I know a lot has to do with the fact that I'm in my 6th year of teaching but in the end I have no complaints and I'm really glad I made the switch. I miss my previous coworkers but I'm excited to be learning new strategies and having new experiences.
I'm hoping to make this an awesome school year!
