Headed Back to the Classroom

Written by Kate Petty | Saturday August 21, 2021

What Happened?

Six years ago, in 2015, I left my school district as a teacher and then administrator to work a dream job in the private sector with a well-known teacher training company called EdTechTeam. Four years later, I felt I was missing something and decided to go back to school to get a business certification and my real estate license. Two years later with moderate success in real estate, there continued to be something missing. I wasn't as happy as I knew I could be, as I had been before.

After reflection, I realized I am a teacher. I love teaching. I love being in the classroom with students as we all learn new things. I love the challenges of creating engaging lesson plans and watching as they bomb or succeed. Fixing those that bombed and celebrating those that succeeded. I want that life back, so I did it.

Now...

I landed another dream job. I am the only English teacher for a small independent school for grades 7-12. It's been a decade since I had my own classroom. I've always taught high school students and, yes, I am super-nervous at teaching middle school too. That age scares the daylights out of me. But you know what? As scared and nervous as I am, I am much more so excited to start my new chapter in my happy place.

My new school uses Google Classroom. When I left the classroom to become an administrator, Google Classroom hadn't even been invented yet. Although I've spent the past six years training teachers how to use it and other digital tools that have come out since 2012, I've never actually used them with my own students.

On top of that, my two year hiatus from education (during my stint as a real estate agent) was during the lockdown for Covid 19. Education changed dramatically over the 2019-2021 school years and I have a lot of catching up to do.

Looking Forward

If you've read my previous posts, you know I'm not afraid to spill the good, bad, and ugly as I learn in my classroom and my future posts are going to reflect what I'm learning that works and what doesn't work. I'll post lesson plans in the Classroom Ideas tab as we work through them.

Today is Saturday. I start work on Monday. Let's do this!