Ch-Ch-Ch Changes

Some rights reserved by kevin dooley

Four and a half months later and I can tell you there will be changes in my world next year. (I alluded to this here.) In December our superintendent called me into his office to tell me he wanted to move me to middle school for next school year. (There are a few reason, but they have not all been made public yet so we'll leave it for another day.)

I am certified for middle school and have known that I would like to try it sometime, but I was not looking for a change now. The principal I work for had been great and I didn't want to leave elementary until she moved on. (Part of international school life is that we are primarily a transient bunch.)

Another thing, my husband has been the middle school / high school principal. I didn't want to step into working for him. (We can do it, and have, but others can be uncomfortable with the situation.) Our school is expanding therefore next year he is only responsible for high school and we have hired a new middle school principal.

This is where I start to get excited. I look forward to working with Nate (the new principal). Also, it took a couple of months, but my position if finally firm, which I am delighted about. I get to teach sixth grade Language Arts. (Yes, I get to keep these and these kids!) Next year we will be implementing the workshop model for reading and writing in the middle school, another exciting development to be a part of. And, as AERO standards are being launched to align with the Common Core I get to venture down that path as well. On top of it all the sixth grade teachers have been finalized and I think we will build a great team.

So now, as we are at the time of the year when planning is as much (if not more) about next year as it is about finishing the five remaining weeks, I start to envision my new sixth grade life.

Ch-ch-ch changes!

Words of wisdom and advice are welcome and solicited!