Today was my first day to meet all the staff at my new school. For those of you who don't know, I will be teaching Writing and Public Speaking and Leadership to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders as of Monday! That's right... I'm a total newbie! I'm trying my hardest to have everything ready and planned and organized to the "t," mainly because that's just how I am... super organized! But I'm also telling myself to relax, because from what everyone has told me from their first year experiences, it doesn't really matter what you have planned... somehow it won't end up rolling out that way! So I'm trying to be planned and ready, while constantly telling myself, "Be flexible, Catty!" It's becoming my new personal mantra.
Anyway, we had a staff breakfast this morning, and while driving on my way to work, I realized that it was going to be like the high school lunchroom all over again. I knew everyone would be nice, but I also knew that they all have their teams, their niches, their cliques. I suddenly became terrified that my morning would be spent wandering around the lunchroom with a styrofoam tray in my hand, trying to look like I have friends while looking for someone to talk to me! And knowing me, I would make eye contact with some poor, unsuspecting teacher, begin my trek to said teacher, and then trip over my own feet on my way to her! Then I'd have to get up, dust the cheese omelet off my clothes, and explain to everyone that, "Oh, no, I'm not the clumsy child of one of the teachers... I'm just the clumsy new teacher!"
I'm very happy to report, however, that none of these things actually happened! I guess some people really do grow out of the high school era, and thankfully, I have a WONDERFUL mentor, who totally took me under her wing. And thankfully, I know the Chorus teacher very well, so she was very sweet to introduce me to people, as well. Praise the Lord for sending amazing people my way!! So I enjoyed my fruit parfait, cheese omelet, sausage, and biscuit surrounded by other great teachers, who were all very kind to introduce themselves to me and engage me in conversation. I was overwhelmed by names, and I'm not sure I remember even half of them... but hopefully that will come. If all else fails, we thankfully have our last names posted above our door. So I guess I could revert back to calling everyone Mr./Mrs. Last Name if I become seriously desperate.
I was mainly happy to meet everyone so that they can hopefully get my face in their heads. I don't care if they remember my name, what I teach, or anything else about my life, so long as they remember that I am indeed a teacher. After past experiences, I have come to dread the occassional blunder of a fellow teacher stopping me in the hallway in front of some of my students and asking for my hall pass. I speak from experience... on many occassions, actually! I've only had one adolescent comment directed at me since being at the school, and ironically that came from another fairly young teacher. So while I entertained Ashley with that particular story, I have failed to gain any other funny/irritating stories yet. So it is a pleasant surprise that nobody thought I was a student wandering the halls, while also being somewhat of a disappointing surprise since I was kind of banking on having a good story for my blog.
I'll be posting pictures of my classroom soon. And our new apartment for that matter. Both my apartment and classroom are kind of in the same stage... completely unpacked and decorated, with some random piles of crap lying around on the floor that I have no idea where to put yet. So once those piles are taken care of, I can post pictures.
Until then, I will end by asking for any and all prayers as I start this new journey into teaching. While I would really enjoy the Lord blessing me with a super smooth transition, no mess-ups, and wonderful lessons, more than anything I just want him to shine through me to my students and co-workers. Please pray that He would give me opportunity to reveal Himself through my actions; that I would be a caring teacher for all of those hurting students; and that I would constantly see Jesus in the face of all my kids, regardless of how irritated I may be at any given moment.
"God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, Selah. That your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations." -Psalms 67:1-2
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