Another year!

Last year I did not write in my blog nearly enough. However, I have once again been inspired to write this year. This school year I have switched to a public charter school in DC. After completing my education policy degree in May, I think this will be a hands-on experiment for me as I am able to compare the public school I was in last year to the charter school this year. Fortunately, I am still in constant contact with friends in the public school system making this experiment easier as we look for what really works in education.
As of today, I have completed one week of teaching Kindergarten! But backing up, I think the professional development that was given to teachers before the school year is one huge difference between this charter school network and the public school. I spent one week in New Teacher Induction trainings where I was told expectations, set my own goals, and began brainstorming and gathering lesson ideas. During this time we were grouped by grade levels, so more experienced teachers were able to share their real experiences and give us ideas that have been seen to work in this school system. The next two weeks were spent in professional development within our specific school. During this, we also attended a convention for all of the schools in the network which was aimed at increasing our spirit and making a promise to work harder than ever this year. We also went to a challenge course for a day with our campus. This gave me a chance to get to know veteran staff members at my school and increased my comfort level with everyone. A student orientation rounded out the two weeks, allowing me to meet students and their parents before the first day of school, something I appreciated very much for kindergarten. After these two weeks I felt comfortable asking anyone for help or ideas as well as trusted that everyone would be giving 100% this school year. All of these trainings were not given in the public school system, where a week was devoted mostly to learning about the teacher evaluation system and classroom set-up.
We started school last Monday. 24 kindergarten students arrived excited to see their friends and meet their new teacher. The early childhood grades only went to school half a day this week, allowing us to focus on procedures and rules. My class is lovely with mostly boys to keep the energy high. They definitely are going to challenge me and hold me to high expectations of providing them with quality lessons as they seem in charge of their learning and want to learn more! Already, the principal and asst. principals have been doing observations as well as visitors from central office. The earthquake day (Tues) showed that my school and the system have procedures in place for unexpected events. The timely manner in which the students were released from school was impressive. The week finished out with a staff celebration at Sticky Rice, a relaxing event that everyone attended and seemed to enjoy!

I must say I'm excited for this year. I know it will be difficult however I've been told special education teachers are the best general education teachers, so I'm hoping some of the things I learned and used last year will be successful in my classroom this year. I'm looking forward to writing in here this year and I hope my friends hold me accountable so new stories can be shared!