Like Water

So I started my new job on Monday. This week is primarily orientation, meetings, and getting prepared for the students coming next week. It has been a positive experience overall, a wonderful change from last year's overwhelming challenges. For those of you who may not know, I have embarked on a unique opportunity to teach English at an international elementary school that offers full immersion in Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese. My job as an "English Specialist" will be to essentially teach all aspects of language arts to various grade levels. There are three full time and one part time teacher in our department (they are all awesome). Our part time teacher will only teach in the morning, while the rest of us will teach four grade levels. I will teach grades 1st - 4th. Even though much needs to be done, I'm not nearly as nervous going into this year as I was last fall. I'm trying to be like water...just go with the flow.

I realize that there will be a lot of work involved, but I am really excited about focusing on my favorite subject area all day long (no math - yay!). While I'll miss the variety and space that comes with having a class of my own, I will love getting to work with kids of different ages. I am in the process of deciding whether I want to return to school to specialize in English or focus my energy elsewhere. This year will likely tell me one way or another what I should do. I'll have no windows, my work space will be severely limited and a challenge to fit all the kids. The pay is considerably less, the benefits are terribly expensive, and the commute is a killer. However, the cultural experiences and knowledge I will acquire will be priceless in other ways that I'm still discovering as I go. I look forward to going to work and enjoy the atmosphere, qualities I've missed. I've also made provisions to be much more present with my kids this year, so that makes me feel better that I'm not sacrificing my family for the sake of any job. It will take incredible focus and organizational skills to stay on top of everything in order to get home at a decent time, but I will do my best! Will post pictures of my classroom as soon as I get a chance.