New Everything

I survived my first week teaching 12th grade English and 11th grade American Studies at Mercer Island High School. Key word: survived.
The job transition between PSKS and MIHS had me working obscene hours and I still entered the classroom this week entirely unprepared and overwhelmed. The learning curve is very steep, especially for a new teacher like myself, who is trying to figure out:
1)the logistics of the school (I have three different classrooms, different tech set ups in each, how to check out laptops for students, utilize online grading, submit attendance, check my email...the list goes on)
2)the students, school climate & culture (I am in culuture shock! It is a big switch to transition from working with 5-10 homeless young people to teaching 120 students who are unaware of their wealth and privilege).
3)and lastly, ummm....what am I supposed to teach? I am entering without any curriculum and without having read or taught the books students are reading.
So, this is a tall order to fill. Everything is new; everything is difficult and time consuming.

But enough of that. I good friend of mine told me that I need to write down what I learned and what I did well every week. This is a skill that I do not exercise and needs practice. It's called cultivating perspective and compassion for myself and acknowledging my success.

Nov 5-9th:
-Showed up (and found all of my classrooms)
-Found my CORRECT parking spot
-Learned how to do student attendance, enter grades, and make a seating chart
-Learned how to have students check out books from the library
-Created my website & learned how to post assignments
-In process of learning student (& staff )names

I am sure there are many many more things I have learned is this one roller coaster of a week, but I'm going to take a moment and remind myself that this is enough because it is already a lot. I just have to keep on surviving one day at a time.