Day #2

This morning my older brother sent me a message on Facebook. My brother is a neuropsychologist and RARELY comments on anything on Facebook simply because he's so busy working. Anyway, his comment this morning made me feel better. He said that comparing situations in a new job is actually pretty normal because it helps us (basically) settle in where we are now. That's a loose paraphrase, but that was the main idea. That made me feel a bit more at ease, because I am comparing jobs all the time!

The weaknesses so far (in my opinion):
1. Laptop training was weak. I am SO THANKFUL that my last district spent 25+ hours training me on technology. Mr. H. would have been livid if he had sat in my training the other day, simply because it was so weak. I asked if they offered more training on various things, and I received a very weak "yes". Hum.
2. Our laptops are Dell computers. They're not hard to learn, and I had a PC for years, but I honestly like the Apple computer better. Part of that is simply because for the past several years I've been an apple user, but it's also because the more I'm on the Dell the more I think, "Apple does this an easier way."
3. The IEP's that I've looked at so far are weak. I would have been chewed on in my previous district for some of what I've read so far. There are some BIG mistakes on the IEP's and I'm going to need to talk to someone about it because I will be implementing the weak IEP's and if the State came in, I would be embarrassed to say I'm the case manager. Seriously.

The strengths so far:
1. The New Teacher training sessions have been much better than my previous district. (That's sad to admit, in a sense, because I was on that committee. I tried to make a difference there, but was outnumbered!) We get paid for ALL OF OUR HOURS in the training, and in my last district new teachers were not paid for it. Also, we have been given time to work in our classrooms EVERYDAY. In my previous district (at least the year before last when I was still on the committee) they had one half day to work in their rooms! Also, here it is only 3 days, and in my previous district it was 5 days! I like it! Also, the time in the training has all been relevant to our jobs, giving us information that we simply wouldn't know about the district. In my last district it was mostly fluff, and not specific information for the job. All in all, I have found it to be a good use of my time as a new teacher in the district!

2. My classroom is HUGE! I have unpacked just about everything with TONS of cabinet space left! I have 26 desks, two tables, and two study desks. I tell ya, I hardly know how to act! I do need a few more books though. I'm lacking now in the book department...

3. I will be paid for ALL of my training so far here. Each and every session has been paid for! I am looking forward to my first check!

4. The district email system is pretty cool. It has a built-in calendar function that I really like and have used quite a bit already!

5. I am 10 minutes from my school. For the past 5 years I was driving 25 minutes to work each way. Now it's just 10 minutes each way. While this isn't a big deal, I am REALLY enjoying it! Not to mention that it's close enough now that during the day I can come home and let Jay out and eat lunch. That won't be true when school starts, obviously, but right now it's GREAT!

6. My desk is brand-new with locks! I can now lock up my belongings and not worry about it! I tell ya, it's so nice! Again, it's not a big thing, but something I like about it!

7. We have an ATTENDANCE secretary. Her main job is to field calls, keep track of attendance, and maintain office traffic while the other secretary does the other stuff. I wish we had had that at my other school. That way the secretaries could have possibly been caught up from time to time instead of treading water.

8. The administration building has some incredible multi-purpose rooms for us to hold our meetings. In the other district we had to use the Y or High School rooms. It's a nice building too!

Well, so that's my list so far! There will be more to come, Mr. H., in the days to come. I promise. We still have opening session, "Meet Your Teacher Night", transition day for Kindergarten only, and the first day of school to compare!

As you can tell, the strengths outweigh the weaknesses. :-)

God put me right where He wanted me!

Life.
Is.
Good.