futurebird's Diaryland Diary
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Me? A teacher?!?
Just down the street from our apartment is a wonderful community garden. There are thousands of tulips in every color.
I got the letter from New York City Teaching Fellows and I�m in! I also told my boss I was leaving (quitting? Is it still called �quitting� if you give almost two month�s notice?) I have a lot of wrapping up to do at work. I happen to like my job and the theatre organization I�m working for so I want to leave things in order for them. That will take some time, I have tons of undocumented code. (Gulp!)
I feel very cheerful about starting something new. I�m also scared to death! To calm myself I�ve been reading weblogs of other NYC public school teachers. I know this will be tough, I�m going to be teaching mathematics (I hope I can teach geometry� but you don�t get much choice when you start out) The only thing that scares me more than the thought that I�ll be in a classroom in front of 20-27 middle school or high school students in only a few months (four, in fact) is the thought of having to learn how the whole public school system works. I�ve been reading everything I can get my hands on and it�s so complicated. Especially since Bloomberg just changed the way the districts are set up. I haven�t even had the time to form an opinion on the reforms, I�m just trying to understand how they work!
I get to meet with a bunch of the other fellows next week. That should be fun. From what I�ve read the fellows tend to be a touch idealistic about teaching�and this can work both for and against us when we start. I have to admit I�m looking forward to a job where I can tell that my work is meaningful. Programming databases can feel a bit detached�even if it is for an organization that I care about. I bet after the first few months I�ll miss how quiet my job at TCG has been!
I�m going to write about the whole process of becoming a teacher. I�m inspired by people like:
upthedownstaircase
teacher (year 1)
another teacher
lupa land
By the way� anyone with any� advice� or books I should read please let me know!
12:45 p.m. - 2003-04-16
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------