As the summer comes to an end (just metaphorically for the South, as it will literally be hot until December…) I reminisce about my first full year as a real live school teacher, and my first full-time job summer vacation. How did it all fly by so quickly? What did I do during that blink of an eye? A lot, it seems!

No wonder the year raced by; I jumped right in to two buildings on campus during the school day and a third for after school hours.  All the running around will surely make for a quick day…never staying in one place for too long.  Could that be foreshadowing for my career? Doing a million things in a million places and loving it all?  Part of me hopes that is the case.

Summer vacation is a time, I now officially know, that students are not the only ones who turn their brains off from school thoughts.  The break from that mind-set was much needed. However, I’ve been just as excited to turn those thoughts back on.  This year will bring many exciting adventures about which I am very happy.  Is the pressure on to top myself from last year? Maybe only pressure from myself. I certainly feel confident I can match the first year’s activities, but I am anxious to test myself and up the bar. In one way it will keep me from being bored, and it will help me to up the ante for my students.

The students are smart. I’m not so far removed from them that I forget the mind-set they are in.  They know how I work now and this year could be an opportunity for them to really see what I can do. I like to believe they have the same high expectations for me as I have for them.  I would hate to disappoint them by plateauing in the classroom.  This is where the fun begins because I have to make sure that upping the ante doesn’t turn them off.  I now know how they “work” and can use that for their benefit as well as mine.

This year at my school, two new programs are starting up (one is totally new and one has been absent for quite some time) in which I can show some new skills.  I know that I will be more focused than ever in order to start things off as smoothly as possibly while tweaking and taking notes along the way.

Most importantly this year is the fact that now I cannot use the phrase “I’m a first year teacher here so I am unaware of….”….*gasp!* now what?! I suppose I could say “oh, last year nobody told me…” but that I will save for emergency situations only.

With a million ideas running through my mind, I arrive back on campus with my chin up, and ready to improve myself.  Along the way of doing so I am open to the feedback I will knowingly receive from my evaluating Team of faculty and administrators.  Related to that, the team of evaluators may not be knowledgeable completely in my field, which has pros and cons…

Pros: I sound like a genius because they might not know otherwise (who doesn’t love that pro), but seriously, I can teach them something new while they observe how I teach it.
Cons: They can’t be too specific about helping me to improve how I present a concept; they can only go so far as to make general pedagogical improcements.

The cons are really not too awful, but it is nice to have someone who knows exactly what you’re going through to be able to give a few “I’ve been there before…” words of advice.  This fact, then, puts the pressure on for me to make sure I’m on top of my info.  Prepping is key,  I’ve learned even more as I gain experience.  I feel great when I know a teacher is prepared to wow me and that is exactly what kind of teacher I want to be for my students.

I love that they have taught me so much in just 8 or 9 brief months. I can’t wait to step in the classrooms this year and learn more from them!

Best wishes to my fellow teachers for the 2010-2011 school year!