The Excitement of Your Very Own Classroom
35 years ago this month, I began my first teaching job. I was straight out of college, 21 years old. My advisor at the college set me up with a brand new private school in a nearby city. I was thrilled. I had a job!! Because it was new, the number of students was very small, but that didn't matter. I was going to have my own classroom!!
I went in and started decorating. I proudly took these poloroids in 1979.
That job only lasted a week. I had one student in my first grade classroom - the owner's son. When I was released, I was given a check for a month's pay. I got another job within a week and I remember my father telling me that it would be only time in my career that I got paid twice for working one month!
Those days are long behind me and now I'm on the other side of that spectrum. My daughter is now where I was oh so long ago.
It hasn't been as easy for her as it was for me. In 1979 there was a shortage of teachers. Now, not so much. After 3 years of subbing in three different districts as well as holding down a second part-time job at Disneyland that consumed every weekend and evening, she now is getting her first classroom. Seeing her excitement brings back memories.
She's a crafty kid and has been spending the last couple of weeks making her new classroom a very cool place to hang out.
Let's see.... canning jars... twine.... oh, and some origami flowers she made!
A banner made of card stock with black letters strung together with, yes, some more of that pink twine!
A job chart with clothespins. She is great at writing in cool fonts!
She shares the classroom with another teacher and they are both Harry Potter fans! She provided the sign (which was a gift to her from her middle school principal). Her colleague provided some Harry Potter quotes from Etsy.
And, of course, every teacher's favorite part of the room - the desk. Don't we all just love the organizers, post-its, notebooks, pushpins, magnets.... I could go on and on. Oh, and just as a reminder of how far she's come, her Disneyland pins reside in a shadow box on the bookcase.
Good luck Em! It's going to be a great year!
I went in and started decorating. I proudly took these poloroids in 1979.
That job only lasted a week. I had one student in my first grade classroom - the owner's son. When I was released, I was given a check for a month's pay. I got another job within a week and I remember my father telling me that it would be only time in my career that I got paid twice for working one month!
Those days are long behind me and now I'm on the other side of that spectrum. My daughter is now where I was oh so long ago.
It hasn't been as easy for her as it was for me. In 1979 there was a shortage of teachers. Now, not so much. After 3 years of subbing in three different districts as well as holding down a second part-time job at Disneyland that consumed every weekend and evening, she now is getting her first classroom. Seeing her excitement brings back memories.
She's a crafty kid and has been spending the last couple of weeks making her new classroom a very cool place to hang out.
Let's see.... canning jars... twine.... oh, and some origami flowers she made!
A banner made of card stock with black letters strung together with, yes, some more of that pink twine!
A job chart with clothespins. She is great at writing in cool fonts!
She shares the classroom with another teacher and they are both Harry Potter fans! She provided the sign (which was a gift to her from her middle school principal). Her colleague provided some Harry Potter quotes from Etsy.
And, of course, every teacher's favorite part of the room - the desk. Don't we all just love the organizers, post-its, notebooks, pushpins, magnets.... I could go on and on. Oh, and just as a reminder of how far she's come, her Disneyland pins reside in a shadow box on the bookcase.
Good luck Em! It's going to be a great year!
She's talented just like her momma! =)
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