You May Have Won the Battle…

When will this year end?

Such were the thoughts running through my mind on my drive home from work.  I cannot wait until this first year at a new school is done.  I am waiting for the day when I can no longer be “the new teacher.”

I was the new teacher all last year.  I spent so much time trying to get my curriculum together and keep things neat and organized for next year.  I don’t know why I did that because I knew from the start I would be leaving the school at the end of the year and moving.  I worked so hard to adjust, learn the rules, learn names, and find my way around.  It was all in vain, bummer.

Now I’m AGAIN the new teacher, and I’m having the same troubles.  Writing curriculums, planning lessons for the first time, writing new quizzes and tests, learning students names, and figuring out what works for them for discipline.

That’s the hardest part.  I had to start from scratch and figure out all over again how in the world to get some respect from a classroom full of 14 yr olds.  It’s sooo hard, and everyday is a battle.  I come home worn out and downright depressed at times thinking about my students and how I have to manage them.

But I guess, they can win the battles, because insha’Allah I will win the war.  If I can make it through the year, and next year not be the “new teacher” who is still adjusting, then I consider myself victorious.  It may seem extreme that I’m using a war analogy, but foreals, if you were teaching, you’d understand.  Standing in the front of the class is like standing at the front lines.