On August 10th I started the new teacher orientation program for my first teaching job. I am an extra science teacher working for a successful charter school organization in the Philadelphia region. "Extra" means that they don't actually have any classes for me to teach yet and I'm in limbo until enrollment goes up and they add sections or until someone in a position I could fill chooses to leave their job.
The uncertainty is frustrating but the benefits are significant. While everyone is thinking about how they are going to decorate their rooms, all I have to focus on is lesson plans. And more significantly, these aren't lessons for classes I am actually going to be teaching because I don't actually have students TO teach. I'm digging into the lesson planning process mostly because it's new to me and I think it's something I'm going to need some practice at. Might as well take the time to practice while the pressure on me is low.
I'm finding it interesting how my approach at the content seems so different from that of my colleagues. I can't help but wonder if I should listen to their comments about what they've found hard to teach in the past or go with my instinct and approach which feels straight forward and crystal clear. I have 10 years experience in industry whereas, as far as I can tell, all of my colleagues have been teaching for a bit. It feels to me like they plan to teach our students more than they actually need to in order for our students to be able to demonstrate mastery of the content. It's very interesting to notice and I wonder if I'm just naive or if I've somehoe got a knack for laying out content in a way that will make sense for even the most struggling students. I imagine the truth is somewhere in the middle but either way, I know I'm going to need to experience the reality of the situation for myself before I'm willing to just take their word for it.
For now though, there is no actual teaching of lessons in my future because alas, I'm an extra. I'm hoping that this low pressure curricular planning time will prove helpful to me in the near future but for now, I'm just trying to enjoy the ride.
