The past two weeks, my life has not been cute little sound bites that make for quick, easy, funny (SHORT) posts. I have been through an intensive, week-long orientation to the building, the staff, and the procedures at my new school. That, in itself, was pretty tiring. There were two nights that week that I got in bed around 9:30 and slept all the way through the night til the alarm went off (very unusual for me!) Then the next week the kids came. And what an amazing, exhausting, exhilarating experience that has been!
I thought that this brand new job would be a totally new experience with a pretty big learning curve. In some ways it is. But, at its very most elemental, it is very similar to much of what I have done for the last two decades. (The biggest surprise to me is that virtually all of what we do is confidential--even to the point that we are not allowed to tell anyone, including the parents of the other students IN the class, who any of the students are. I can't even talk about them in public in case someone in the general vicinity might overhear and recognize who I'm discussing. So anything I share about the actual work will always have to be very vague and generic.)
Because this class has turned out to be much bigger than is reasonably manageable by one teacher, there has been talk from day one of adding another teacher for this bunch. Much to my surprise, I very much want the job! Since I'm already certified in another field, all I would have to do is take a test in this subject. I could even be given emergency certification and have a year to get all the requirements met. Two weeks ago, I would've sworn with my last breath that there was no way I'd be willing to put up with all the aggravation that comes with classroom teaching. And now, I'd jump through any hoop they hold up to get a chance to work with these kids. I totally trust the Lord to put the right person in our classroom.. So I'll be perfectly happy if they hire another teacher and I finish the year as the aide. And I'll be (extra!) perfectly happy if they, um, choose me. I've signed up to take the test next month so that either way, next year I'll be looking to hire in as the teacher. What an amazing development!
And that's just one unexpected turn in the road. There are others, but the time is not right yet for talking about them. There is a Chinese proverb that says, "May you live in interesting times." We do.
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2 comments:
First, a belated happy new year! Lots of my students were out the last two days and I thought of you lots.
I am so pleased that you're so enjoying what you're doing. I do think it's funny that you're finding such a strong calling to teaching these kids. Not surprising so much as just so much how God seems to ask different things of us at different times in our lives. (Although I know that lots of the skills that I use as a teacher were learned from watching you deal with infants and toddlers.)
Anyway, there's something so beautiful about how God gives you so many wonderful talents and gifts and then finds a way to have you use them to His glory. In His time.
I love you!
You make me cry; you're so sweet!
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