Tomorrow is my last official teaching day at Current School. Ever since I made the decision way back in January to transfer, people have been asking me how I feel about it: "Are you excited? Nervous?" To be honest, I really wasn't sure how to feel--it was so far off in the future that it almost felt imaginary. Now, here it is.
Yikes.
I guess I feel kind of the way I did when we decided to have Elliana: excited, but worried that I'm messing with a good thing. And also, a little queasy. There's a whole lot of new-ness coming my way, people. New campus. New principal. New jobshare partner. New schedule (year-round to traditional). New coworkers. New grade level...again. New community of parents and kids. New technology out the wazoo. (I went in to check out my partner's--er, our--classroom last week, and she was listening to Pandora. The music was coming from speakers in the ceiling. Not from tiny speakers attached to the computer monitor, or from a beige boombox purchased when Clinton was in the White House. And that's just the beginning! They have interactive white boards, and individual responders for students to participate electronically, and mounted LCD projectors, and closed circuit television for their morning announcements, and gold-paved sidewalks, and strawberry-flavored wallpaper...okay, not so much with the last two, but the rest? Whoa, baby.)
Obviously, having Ellie turned out to be a pretty good idea, and I'm pretty sure this change will turn out the same way, eventually. The transition is, of course, the hard part: I'll forget the names of people I've met three times, not want to ask, and get myself into various "Seinfeld"-esque situations. I'll pine away for Elizabeth to drop into my classroom with an ice-cold Diet Dr. Pepper at the exact perfect moment (is there ever NOT a perfect moment to have a good friend bring you a cherished beverage??). I'll somehow manage to get lost, even though the school's layout is practically identical to my current one. I won't get hugs and waves from parents and former students every time I walk across campus. Basically, my comfort zone will be a dot in my rearview mirror for a while.
On the other hand, there are perks to being the newbie on campus--as my friend Jayne pointed out, it'll be like getting a whole new wardrobe, since no one there will have seen any of my outfits before. Ditto for my jokes and stories. (Do I have jokes and stories??) I'll have a whole new pool of potential Facebook friends. Plus, New School is kind of right up my alley: it has a rainforest/ecology theme, everyone there is cheerful and friendly, they communicate by email and text messaging constantly, and did I mention the part about all the nifty gadgets? It's like the mothership calling me home! And, the best part is, it practically is home, since it's only 4-5 miles from our house. I'll just need to be patient, and know it's going to be a while before I feel "at home" there.
Gimme a fewdays weeks and I'll be totally gung-ho about starting this new adventure; but for now, I'm going to let myself be a little wistful over leaving Current School (soon to be known as Old School, I guess) after 8 years. Fair warning, though: anyone who makes me cry at school owes me a drink afterward!
Yikes.
I guess I feel kind of the way I did when we decided to have Elliana: excited, but worried that I'm messing with a good thing. And also, a little queasy. There's a whole lot of new-ness coming my way, people. New campus. New principal. New jobshare partner. New schedule (year-round to traditional). New coworkers. New grade level...again. New community of parents and kids. New technology out the wazoo. (I went in to check out my partner's--er, our--classroom last week, and she was listening to Pandora. The music was coming from speakers in the ceiling. Not from tiny speakers attached to the computer monitor, or from a beige boombox purchased when Clinton was in the White House. And that's just the beginning! They have interactive white boards, and individual responders for students to participate electronically, and mounted LCD projectors, and closed circuit television for their morning announcements, and gold-paved sidewalks, and strawberry-flavored wallpaper...okay, not so much with the last two, but the rest? Whoa, baby.)
Obviously, having Ellie turned out to be a pretty good idea, and I'm pretty sure this change will turn out the same way, eventually. The transition is, of course, the hard part: I'll forget the names of people I've met three times, not want to ask, and get myself into various "Seinfeld"-esque situations. I'll pine away for Elizabeth to drop into my classroom with an ice-cold Diet Dr. Pepper at the exact perfect moment (is there ever NOT a perfect moment to have a good friend bring you a cherished beverage??). I'll somehow manage to get lost, even though the school's layout is practically identical to my current one. I won't get hugs and waves from parents and former students every time I walk across campus. Basically, my comfort zone will be a dot in my rearview mirror for a while.
On the other hand, there are perks to being the newbie on campus--as my friend Jayne pointed out, it'll be like getting a whole new wardrobe, since no one there will have seen any of my outfits before. Ditto for my jokes and stories. (Do I have jokes and stories??) I'll have a whole new pool of potential Facebook friends. Plus, New School is kind of right up my alley: it has a rainforest/ecology theme, everyone there is cheerful and friendly, they communicate by email and text messaging constantly, and did I mention the part about all the nifty gadgets? It's like the mothership calling me home! And, the best part is, it practically is home, since it's only 4-5 miles from our house. I'll just need to be patient, and know it's going to be a while before I feel "at home" there.
Gimme a few
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