The journey to now.

This past school year I was one of those new-ish teachers that was not offered a new contract before school ended. These are strange times in the world of education. I never thought for an instant that being a teacher would not be a stable career. I always imagined that I would find a job at a wonderful school and stay there for years and years. I imagined that my former students would come back to visit me just like I visited my old teachers. So far that has not been the case for me. This year will be my fourth year teaching and each year has brought with change, experience and growth (not always easily I might add). When I graduated, I could not wait to get into a classroom. I searched high and low for a teaching position and finally found one in Central Florida, so I moved away from my hometown and embarked on my new career. My first gig there was to be the ESE inclusion teacher for kindergarten through fifth grades. Yikes! This was a large task for a brand new teacher, but I enjoy a challenge and met it head on. The next year though I asked to be moved into the ESE self contained room for K-2. I loved those precious children and was so excited every time they would demonstrate academic or social growth. They are still in my heart. However, I was not content in Central Florida (even though my besties live there) so I moved back to my hometown to be near my family. My next teaching job was in kindergarten. It was so much fun and I learned so much about my teaching style and classroom management. I had some great mentors, thanks Jan and Alba.
This year I will be in a new school teaching first grade. I am over the moon excited about this new placement.  I loved my old school and probably would have reapplied after teacher transfer day if I had not already been hired. I know that God arranged it all for me because if I had not already been given the new job I would have wanted to go back to where I had been and was comfortable. This new thing is going to be an adventure for sure but I have such a peace about this year. I know it's gonna rock!
We have 3 weeks before the students come back to school and I am so anxious to get into my new room and get started. I have been pouring over other teacher blogs and have learned about some great ideas. I will post my top five favorites soon.