Round Two

Summer has officially ended and although it is just as hot, school is in session. For me, this is my second round of teaching art at the middle school level in Shelby County, and I also like to think of it as a second chance. If I could sum up my teaching motto last year in one word it would be survival....hopefully this year I will get past simply surviving and actually do what I know I am good at doing. (That would be teaching)

Last year I questioned myself a lot, but this year I am prepared. I know the schools, the administration, the faculty, the crazy schedule of being at two different schools and sharing classes with another art teacher, and I also know the type of student I am dealing with. I saw some familiar faces this week and was happy about seeing most, scared about seeing a few. I had to learn names like Charlesiah, Jochebed, and Schaffer. (to name a few)

I was sad to hear I will not get to keep one of my favorite students from last year (one with cerebral palsy who lost her hair, ability to talk and ability to walk, but was the first person to remember the name of my cat and that my husband was going to be a dentist)...But found that this year I will get to teach a younger student with the exact same condition. There is something about teaching students with special needs and seeing them smile that I find to be more rewarding than anything else. And one thing I will be learning how to handle this year is a student who knows NO english. None. It is beyond me why a sixth grader who speaks only chinese is in a class with 26 students...he actually came to my class twice. Since I couldn't communicate with him, he stayed. I still don't know which name is his first and which is his last...I guess I'll learn.

Cheer squad was interesting. These girls mean business. Every girl has a back handspring down (apparently it is required) and most can do back tucks. They pay something close to $3,000 a year to be on the squad because of all of the competition costs...like Florida for Nationals...Disney World included. They cannot under any circumstance wear their hair down, or even have bangs down, even at practice. All this is under the coaching of a professional cheerleader-man (no, he is not gay...he is engaged and extremely nice). And then there I am just watching and trying to figure out the littlest bit I can about this strange world of "professional, competitive, obsessive" cheerleading. The girls treat me as though we will become best friends...which could either be a good thing or a very bad thing.

All in all, I am ready for the year and all that it will bring me...

Well, not everything, I'm sure.