New Era.

I have been holding off on writing about school/work because there is just so much to talk about. But, with the first day right around the corner, I figured I should update my friends and family with what has been consuming my post-wedding life.

Looking back at my blog I realize I never even mentioned that I found a new job. I did! It's very exciting for two reasons: 1) it is in D.C. so I will not have to drive 2 hours each day to get to and from work and 2) this school is amazing.

Before the wedding, I was somewhat anxious about finding a job closer to home. I did my research, sent out my resume and waited. And interviewed. And waited. And waited. I hadn't heard from anywhere for a while and was beginning to envision myself as unemployed and pathetic. Then for some reason I got a bunch of offers from different places on one afternoon and I was immediately drawn to one school in particular. It was a start-up public charter school connected to a very successful middle school.

I was officially hired for my new job as the 2nd grade Lead Teacher a few days before my wedding. It was all very sudden...my new boss came to watch me teach, we went to dinner that night and I was hired.

I have been doing various projects for the school over the summer and started the official training on August 5th. The staff is amazing -- everyone is so dedicated to education, intelligent, and motivated. All was going great except that we didn't actually have our building yet. It is a brand new school and the warehouse we were using was undergoing some serious renovations. Needless to say we were all pretty anxious since school was starting THIS WEEK.

But last Friday...we got in. And it looks incredible.
















Seriously. There is so much light and so much color. It is just going to be such a inviting environment for our students and our families.

Today, we were able to start putting our things in our rooms. All by my lonesome [gives evil eye to Jamie] I managed to carry all my stuff from the car and up that big ol' flight of stairs and to my room. Which incidentally was 1/3 the size of my old room...so I had way too much stuff. I wasn't even sure how my student desks would fit in the room (as the Lead Teacher I would have the inclusion class which means I would probably have more children join my class as the year progressed). I admit that I began to panic. And the boss saw me panicking.

She ultimately decided to have me switch to a bigger room currently occupied by another teacher who had moved from Jamaica and as a result did not have tons of stuff. She told me that it was her decision since I was the Grade Level Leader and because I would have more students...but I feel so guilty. My colleague was so great about it and I hope she was honestly not upset by it.

The worst part was that I was not panicked because I had so much stuff -- honestly, I would have just stuffed it in a closet -- but rather that I did not understand how to possibly fit all 20 students in that classroom. Which is a problem regardless of how much stuff you bring in...

Anyway, despite the overwhelming guilt...I am very excited to begin the new school year. Here are some "before" pictures of my new classroom...



So those student desks were the bane of my existence today. Although they are very cool and conducive to collaborative work...they are just so big. So fitting 20 of those in my room was quite the task. Anyway, I'll be taking more pictures as I set the room up. Hopefully there will be some good progress...Kids are coming on Thursday!