I had no idea how hard teaching would be. I mean, I knew it would be hard. I thought I was prepared to dedicate basically all my time to my students, but I was in no way emotionally prepared for the load I took on three weeks ago. It's okay though. I'm growing.
This is my life: wake up (between 5:00 and 5:30 usually), get ready for school, go to school (usually arrive between 7:00 and 7:20), teach, prepare lesson plans/grade/other school related stuff, back therapy, come home, dinner, read scriptures, more school stuff, go to sleep. Oh the joys.
Really, though, the joys. Since I have started teaching, I have felt joy in ways that I cannot accurately describe. There is joy in seeing students "get" the information. There is joy in the interactions with students, especially those you know you are making a difference for. There is joy in seeing students' lives change. There is joy in hearing through the grapevine that you are so-and-so's favorite teacher. There is joy in a student telling me that the principal has told the girls that I am a good role model and they should look up to me. There is so. much. joy. in teaching. I love it. It's a lot of work, but I love it.
I'm kind of going through culture shock. My school has 500-600 students I think. I know about a solid 1/4 of the school. I can call all my students by name! Anyway, the school is small. But I really like it. We had a fundraiser dinner a few weeks ago for someone who has cancer (I think it was cancer. That was my first day, so I didn't get all the details because then it was over anyway). The whole community came together for it and halfway through, they had to go buy more food because so many people came! Also, I teach a lot of students whose families are in poverty. They have so many responsibilities at home, and really, school is the least of their worries. They come, though. They come. They get their work done most of the time. They work hard. Many students work and help provide for their families. It's just a really unique environment for me. Yes, they are teenagers. They text during class and sometimes think that the things I have planned for class are stupid, but it's really a fantastic bunch of teenagers at this school.
Things are going well. My life is crazy. I am so incredibly busy. My stress bottles up and tends to explode on the weekends. But I love every minute of what is happening right now. I don't get paid nearly enough, but it's still worth it to me. It is weird being in such a small environment, but I do love it. I don't know if I would choose to work in a larger district with more pay if I had the choice. I think I would stay where I am. But I don't know. Right now I don't have other options anyway so it doesn't matter.
When I get another chance soon, I'll update again. And for those who are FACS people and have been wondering about the differences here, it's coming :)
