One of my all time favorite movies is
The Wizard of Oz. I wanted to be Dorothy when I was young. I had the dress, the shoes, Toto in the basket....all of it. It was my first theatrical production, and many years later, I directed the show 2x. Over the past three months my life has drastically changed in many different ways. One in particular has been in my career. I left my school, which I taught at for seven years, and ventured out to another district......in
public school. Yup. I was a private school teacher who went to public school. When my new colleagues asked where I taught before, to my reply their response was, "Oh honey,......you're not in Cheshire anymore."
They weren't lying. Now, I knew working in a public school would be a huge challenge coming from a private, catholic school in a quiet, mid-upper class town. But coming to a public school of 700 + students, where 75% are minorities and live in the city is a complete 180. There have been days where I sit at my desk and think, "I've made a mistake." Times when I stand in the hallway shocked at the behavior of the students. There are mornings when I force myself to get out of the car. And days when I close the door, turn off the lights, and just cry.
We've been in school for 4.5 months now - ALMOST 5 MONTHS. What have I learned? A heck of a lot. I can't tell if my patience has grown or not, it depends on the day. No, its grown. I've learned to be more flexible in lessons and projects because they definitely won't go as originally planned. I feel like I should be presented with a degree in psychology or social work because I spend much of the day being a counselor.
Is it all bad? ..................no......some of the kids are great, the staff and faculty have been very supportive and they are all in the same boat. I have a few teacher aides who I found out are fellow believers. One in particular comes in almost everyday and prays with me. He's an older gentleman and has worked here for 15 years. He said today, "I just need to keep on laughing and praying because if I don't I'll just cry." He left this on my desk a month ago when times were really rough. I keep it on my wall as a reminder.
