The new deal

I started a new gig on Jan. 17th. Basically, so far, it's my dream job. I get to teach both remedial reading and ESL.

I teach reading in a small classroom with around 10-15 students (some days it's more, others, it's less) on a residential campus working with at-risk youth. In a typical day, it's a fluctuating mix of mostly academic/vocational instruction, but I do an equal amount of life skills and social skills training (as needed by certain individuals).

It's a pretty awesome gig. It's quite different from working in a public school in several key ways. For starters, the schedule isn't based on a standard academic year, so it's more like working with a high mobility population (people come and go all the time, depending on where they are in the program). Then there's the fact that, you're called upon to do a lot more things that school counselors usually does because the "home factor" is absent, and like it or not, you are sort of in a quasi-parental role (albeit with "kids" who are for the most part over 18). For another, it's a vocational program, so the emphasis is quite different from a typical high school, where the de facto mission is college prep. And the students are quite an interesting mix. Many come from rural areas, but some are from large cities, and most, at least in my subject, have learning disabilities. So most days it's kind of a cross between doing Resource and ESL, with an occasional behavior class thrown into the mix (depending on who's in the room).

Happy MLK Day

Happy MLK Day! This also means I start my new teaching job tomorrow.

I'll admit that I'm slightly nervous because A. I haven't set foot inside a school in several months, and B. Half of my school paraphernalia is still in boxes, and C. It's a total leap of faith on my part.

But at the same time, I'm not THAT worried because A. This is what I want to do, and B. It can't possibly be any harder than--say--subbing in a behavior class, and C. They swore they weren't going to have me come in and start teaching right off the bat.

So we'll see how it goes... I really think it'll be fine though. But still, I feel a bit rusty since I've been doing the stay-at-home-mom thing for the past 6 months, and that's a whole 'nother universe.

But then again, when you think about it, any teaching job, anywhere is EASY BREEZY compared to staying at home with an infant! (Just hope it's not too hard on him--and daddy (who's never done this before either.)