Three is the Magic Number

Well....I'm now starting my 3rd year.  Who would've thought that I'd be in this position? The old me wouldn't question this, but the current me almost quit 1 week before school started.  Let me tell you why that almost happened.  I got hired back on at the same school and am now teaching 4th grade again.  I was excited for the move back to fourth grade and was excited for the class I was getting.  I really do have a great group of kids for the most part.  There will always be those students that make things difficult or make you wish corporal punishment was reinstated in the schools, but I'm content with the the class I have.  Here's why I wanted to get out of teaching.

Firstly, I'm now teaching 35 kids in my class.  I know that may not seem like many compared to the upper grades, but it is 11 more than I've ever had and it is a hard adjustment.  I'm finding out very quickly that I have had to change quite a bit about how my class operates.  I was also looking for work elsewhere because I felt like I needed a move.  The only problem is that I love my school, my classroom, and the area in which I teach.  The hard part is finding a place that compares and has the same types of programs I'm used to using.  This made it hard for me to accept in job in SLC this summer that sounded okay, but in the end I didn't want to give up everything I have here.  On top of all of that I decided to go back to school to get my Master's in Instructional Technology. 

I feel overwhelmed to say the least and it's going alright...so far.  My biggest regret is not having enough time to direct my theater club.  I have a lot of great kids this year that I think would be awesome and really benefit from it.  Last year I saw two students really come out of their shells as they started to perform.  One of them turned out to be one of my favorites.  The bonus to teaching this year (besides the fact that we have changed most of our curriculum, including our 3rd math program in 3 years) is I feel more comfortable with knowing what I have to teach.  I understand what needs to be taught and how it needs to be taught for the most part. 

It seems like I really enjoy teaching and I'm feeling more comfortable with it, but the question remains "Why do I still want to change jobs?"  My brother is in his second year and he wants to quit too.  I've come up with a few reasons and those will come in due time.  Right now I'm listening to the Education Nation on NBC and a lot of thoughts are going through my head and I'll probably get on my soapbox about them later.  They are discussing a lot of things that I disagree with and I'm starting to get sick and tired of the rhetoric.  When and how are we going to make real change in education happen?  This whole post has been nonsense...oh well.