new line of work

I'm making a transition. It will be over the next year. Or it might be in the next week. I'm not totally sure how it's going to go. I just know I'm excited about doing it. After five years as a classroom teacher in third grade class and five years in a multiage (1st/2nd grade) before that, I get to be a literacy teacher (and student). I'll co-teach in a second grade class during our language arts block, plying my best practices while spending part of the school day learning about literacy, teachers, students, how they both learn, how I can effectively coach them forward and along with that, I'll get some coaching of my own.

Last week I realized this meant I wouldn't get to sit in the middle of my room the week before school pondering the space as I visualized where students were going to do all their amazing work. I thought about the possibility of not making home visits for the first time since 1980. I wondered if I'd still get to interact with parents. I was pretty sure I would no longer have "Pancake Day" every 20 days of school. I would miss teaching about the life cycle of a butterfly, the diversity of the Ancient Roman Empire and how to read and write numbers in Base Three. I wasn't going to be putting hundreds of beautiful new crayons, pencils, and markers in color coded bins on color coded tables. I wasn't going to alphabetize and number cubbies, name cards or materials. I had no excuse to get Sharpies.

Today though, was a new day. I'm pretty sure I got beyond last week. I thought about getting to work with grades I love (2nd and 3rd) and teachers who are gifted. I quickly decided spending a week pondering space for 20 students only to find I had too much furniture was overrated. Today I pondered space in my co-teacher's room for reading and writing workshop and it only took 20 minutes! I had my few office supplies to organize, no color coding necessary and I'd done most of that last year. I realized I could still integrate an ancient culture (Mali) with language arts. And most importantly I realized I still get to work with kids!

Now I just have to figure out how to integrate pancakes into Word Study.

Driving golf balls in an elementary classroom

Teaching is a bit like golf for me. Although, I admit I do not prepare for golf a fraction of the time I prepare for teaching nor do I know as much about golf as I do about teaching. Which proves my point even further. The point is a lot can go wrong before it goes well, even if you know a lot. Lots of lessons veer into the woods to the right before you have that magic shot that is easy, effortless, straight, makes the right sound off the club, feels perfect, and lands near the pin. You work for years trying to perfect your game/teaching to fit your style and ability. You love both, but can experience moments of almost debilitating frustration that can ruin a moment, a day, a round and make you wonder why you thought you could do this. It isn't always bad. In fact, it's mostly pretty good and mostly rewarding. You still get to the hole; sometimes it takes you a few more shots. You teach a good unit; it sometimes takes a day or two longer.

But every now and then you do hit that great shot. You realize the materials are just the right club for the distance, you know the course (no pun intended) well enough to be flexible and make adjustments, and you see your students making connections you knew were possible even if you didn't quite expect it. Which makes me ask...why didn't I expect it? I've certainly prepared. And makes me wonder...how do I do this again? It's amazing how one perfect shot in a thousand can keep you playing.