Change of Scenery

I received an email towards the middle of June about my teaching assignment for the 2011-2012 school year. I was assigned sixth grade Math. I was excited about the new opportunity and nervous about my new working environment.

My new campus was a twenty-five minute drive from my home as opposed to the ten minutes I was used to. The campus was more modern than the previous one, with more spacious classrooms. My new Principal was a Black male, not much older than myself, I was very excited about this. He was a fair man who had high expectations for teachers on the campus.

It was a little difficult in the beginning adjusting to new staff. Some people were friendly and helpful, while others were standoffish. I began to wonder just what I had gotten myself into.

The students were a bit different also. I had a large number of students in my classes that were strong academically. Of course there were some behavior issues and students that needed more of a push, but that’s on any campus. There was a difference in parents also. On my former campus I would rarely receive a phone call or email from a parent. At my new campus it was the norm to receive parent communication about test grades or missing assignments.

I enjoyed teaching my students and the academic learning that was occurring. I was also learning to communicate effectively with parents, a skill that was an area of opportunity for me. I began to settle in and enjoy my new surroundings.