Started teaching again full-time today. I’m teaching at the same school I taught at 9.5 years ago when I went to work for Microsoft. There are a lot of changes. They’re taking attendance online (something I was working towards when I left) for example. In fact a lot is online. Email rather than paper memos for the most part. Moodle for classes. And of course some new faculty and administrators. The school day has changed (it’s longer) and the schedule has 8 periods in the rotation. I think we had 7 before but I could be wrong. There are now study halls. Never thought I’d see that but it seems to be working. I didn’t have a home room last time (as a department chair) but I do now. A lot is the same though.
In fact several times during the day I felt almost as if I’d never left. Kids are still kids. The concepts I am teaching are largely the same even though the software has been updated several times. I’m teaching in the same room along side the same computer teachers. That is a huge help as they are old friends and always have my back. That is something I needed a couple of times as things that had changed tripped me up a bit.
The students laughed at my jokes – always a plus. They paid attention to instructions. They worked (mostly) quietly (for kids) in study hall. It was a good day.
Congratulations! That's so exciting! Whenever I did stuff on campus I always had to stop myself from saying, "I used to do the same thing," so I wouldn't feel old :)
ReplyDeleteOne of the nice things about teaching at a high school - if you are bored you are forgetting to do something. I think I am aging much slower being around the kids. Always something new.
ReplyDeleteSo far boredom has not been a problem. :-) It really is energizing to be working with a bunch of students.
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