I have kind of an announcement tonight: I found out about a month ago that after eighteen years of teaching fifth grade (I know!) I've been reassigned to teach third starting next year.
To address what must be the most obvious questions, because they are always the very first ones I'm asked: (1) No, this is not a change I requested, but (2) I'm fine with it. I had a l-o-o-o-n-g talk with my principal when she shared this news with me. We talked about her reasons for the move and how they factored in to what's best for the students, where my reassignment fit on the greater Chess board of several changes happening on our staff this year, and also what was best for me, which I am glad to say was something she considered because she certainly didn't have to. Going from 5th to 3rd isn't a demotion just because it's a lower grade level; I know everyone who works inside of education understands that, but there could be others outside of the profession who don't. So just to clear things up for all you non-teacher civilians -- my rank isn't being stripped.
In fact, this is a very positive move in a lot of ways. First and foremost -- and I say this with all sincerity and absolutely no Eddie Haskell butt-kissing -- I will be working with a teaching partner as ideal as I could hope for. We've been friends and colleagues for a long time; in fact we had 5th grade/2nd grade buddy classrooms back in olden times, so long ago that those same 2nd graders would now be old enough to attend college. I was caught off guard a little when my principal told me I was moving, and the first question I had was who I'd be partnered with. When she told me who it was I thought, "Oh. Okay then. This is good." And after she told me the rest of my new team things only got better. I found out I'll be working with one teacher I'd had a great partnership with several years ago, and another one I've been doing a lot of curriculum work in recent years. As far as grade level teams go, I think we'll be starting off pretty solid.
The closest thing to a downside about any of this is stepping out of a comfort zone and into somewhat unfamiliar territory. It's not totally unfamiliar because I have taught 3rd grade before, but that was back when the years on the checks I wrote all started with 19s, so it's been awhile. But leaving behind a comfort zone isn't always a negative. Sometimes growth you aren't looking for occurs in spite of itself, and doors open to possibilities that otherwise wouldn't have been available. And of course all of this is to say nothing of how working with a different age group could potentially impact my writing. Maybe there's a reason this is happening right at the same time whatever writing career I might someday develop is just beginning to launch. Time will tell.
As 2014 rolls along, I keep thinking back to the last day of school before winter break this past December. I was all fired up about the PitchWars manuscript contest, and many of my friends at school were graciously excited for me. A large group of us were walking in after the buses had arrived in the morning, everyone feeling good about break about to start and the promise of a new year about to begin. One person I walked in with said she thought I had a big year ahead of me.
I'm now starting to wonder if maybe she knew something I didn't.
No comments:
Post a Comment