Second year AHHHHH!

Hello from the second year of teaching! I never thought this day would come, but I must say, it's awesome to be back. Our whole faculty and student body has been transformed; we ended the school year at a low point, and everyone has returned with a skip in their step. We have several new faculty members - all fantastic and super highly qualified - and an amazing new principal. Her leadership is strong all while being extremely positive and supportive. We are so, so, super excited!

When I last left off, all I wanted was to be a solely-music teacher. I wanted a manageable, reasonable schedule, and the opportunity to focus on band and orchestra. Ask and you shall receive - the past principal was kind enough to give me what I asked for, and I took on general music from ELC-8, adding a few more sections of music in the place of honors literature. However, when I looked at it, I realized how light it looked. As you must know, I'm the type of person who does better with more on her plate. First thing Monday morning, I realized just how much I missed morning honors literature. The recent graduates came by and told it to me like it was - that I was an idiot for giving up that class and they lovingly told me just how much that class meant to them. I realized that so much of the success and luck I had with that class was because I spent a ton of time with half of them in honors lit. Without that, I would've been another specialist and getting to know them would've taken much longer and been more difficult, no doubt.

The eighth grade teacher, a dear friend whom I respect so much, listened to my plight and together we came up with a workable solution to get me back to teaching literature without the craziness that came with teaching so many students at such an accelerated pace. I felt so much better and excited to get to know the new eighth grade class in a variety of ways.

Also, a few small moments have taught me how badly I sucked at teaching music my first year. Hopefully the plans I came up with for this year will provide the students with a much more solid foundation. There was a lot of good in my first year, and a lot of failings as well. My goal this year is not to expand much or to do things bigger, but to do them better. Quality over quantity.

Also also, I stayed at work until 6:30pm tonight. I am much more an early-riser than a night-owl, so staying late usually doesn't work for me. However, I wanted to finish my to-do list and leave work at work. I left last, but came home relaxed cause work was done. That might have to be a new habit. Any personal habits I had last year bit it due to how crazy things seemed. I plan to focus on keeping workout habits, healthy eating habits, and personal relaxation in the mix as well. If I could teach very well and still find a balance between work and life, I will be satisfied.

Here's to the start of year two. And changing the name of my blog. :)