Blogs

I just finished the first two weeks in a new district.  They put together this wonderful training for new to the district teachers, and I learned so much (even a bus tour of the community!).  So much information and things to do, though, it began to make me feel like a juggler.  I need to learn it all and do it all!

I’ve been a perfectionist all my life (I even forged my mother’s signature in fourth grade because I was scared to show her a B on a spelling test.  In the end, I was caught because the signature wasn’t too convincing...).  As a perfectionist, you are always hardest on yourself, and as an adult, I’m learning when it’s okay to cut myself some slack.  

Luckily, everyone is incredibly welcoming and understanding in the new district.  It meant the world to me when administration acknowledged that this is a whirlwind and it’s okay (like this is really, actually perfectly fine) to feel overwhelmed.  If you are an administrator or seasoned teacher, I implore you to tell new teachers it’s okay!  Having these administrators and inspiring teachers tell me “it’s okay,” is what truly allowed me to not be overwhelmed in a panicky, negative way.  

That very first week my mind was racing.  It took a while to fall asleep, and then when I did, I woke up at 3:00 am.  I would wake up thinking, “Oh no, I need to be asleep.  Today I need so much energy!”  Then I would enter this vicious cycle of being anxious about not sleeping.  The third night of this I even tried YouTubing a relaxing, sleep guided meditation.  But, it didn’t work for me.  After an hour of trying, I got up and answered emails.

My inbox always seems full, and I always seem to miss something.   But I’m in luck because our school uses Gmail.  It took me some time, but I created labels and multiple inboxes through filters and Google labs.  I have one inbox full of emails that are “To Do” and another labelled “Needs Reply.”  Finally, I’ve filtered the daily announcement e-mails to a folder, and a folder specifically for our after school program.  I found this site incredibly helpful: http://mashable.com/2012/06/22/gmail-filters/#xtCZLqOXEmkE

I’m taking over a large program at a big school, and there is a huge learning curve.  One of the biggest challenges is that curriculum doesn’t actually exist for the courses I have.  They simply have course descriptions for each class.   

I often find this a blessing and a curse, but I found a huge lifesaver in Lindsay Price at TheatreFolk.  This year, I’m teaching a Playwriting course, a subject I’ve never taught before.  I purchased her “Monologue Everything” book and I ended up with a great structure and format for the class and a month long unit.  I also purchased picture prompts from her to transition into after finishing with monologues.  Finally, I want to end the class by studying and creating a docu-drama.  I’m really digging the part to structure of this class.  For information about this, check out: http://monologueeverything.theatrefolk.com/

Finally, one of my biggest challenges is waking up so early!  As theater people, we are not normally morning people.  My new commute is typically an hour starting at 6 am.  I hate it because I sit in traffic.   However, I’ve found an awesome way to make this not feel like wasted time.  

I always struggled to find the time to read the latest and greatest teaching books, and learning new practices.  I also have a hard time getting past the dry nature and formal language of some of these books (give me stories and anecdotes, real life examples, please!).  But I still really want to know this information.  One word: podcasts.

I can’t believe I’ve just discovered this!  I’ve fallen in love with the podcast, “The Cult of Pedagogy.”  It’s relatively new, but so much good information is there.  I appreciate the podcast because it’s not an interview.  It’s actually like taking a really short refresher course on good teaching practice.  Give it a listen on iTunes or: http://www.cultofpedagogy.com/pod/