Fail.

Truly, I intended to start this blog months ago when my journey as a brand-new teacher at the brand-new Schoo Middle School began. I failed.

In a perfect world, I would journal every day and document each day of my experiences as a new teacher. We all know that this isn't a perfect world, and I know that I can not follow through with that kind of a commitment.

This is my poor attempt to recall all of the excitement/stress/nervousness that is my first year...

When I received the call in January to interview with Lincoln Public Schools, I was elated. Prior to filling out any applications, I had deemed LPS as the "Plan A." I love Lincoln, and I love even more the schools in which I have been blessed to work over the last four years, and I love most the people with whom I have worked - students, families, and staff members. The journey from that point on is a whirlwind for me.

One day, I was interviewing in the LPS District Office. A few days later, I interviewed with the administrators of Schoo Middle School. Within the next week, I had my first teaching job. Over the winter break, I had come to terms with the possibility that I wouldn't be so lucky to work in Lincoln. My "Plan B" at that point was to move to Chicago, a place where I was sure would have plenty of openings. I even kind of liked the idea of picking up everything that I had and everything that I knew and moving to a place where everything would be unfamiliar. As spontaneous (something I am NOT) as that sounds, it was a sense of relief to have a job that I felt comfortable with in a place that I couldn't wait to officially call home.

FAST FORWARD...

Because Schoo Middle School is new, we were blessed to be given ten days of professional development over the summer. On these days, we really got to know each other as a staff, talked about our collective vision for what Schoo Middle School would be, and begin making plans for the year.

Instantly, I could tell that our staff was going to work. We clicked. This was our school. We, together, created a vision and a mission, and we, together, would get to see it through. What a unique opportunity we had in doing so! I love everything about the ideas in which we believe... the culture of collaboration, the focus on every student as an individual, and the pursuit of improving our students' performance. While these work days were beneficial and necessary, it was hard to picture what things would be like. All this work was being done for students who we didn't yet know. All this planning being done for a building we were not yet allowed to enter.

Although I was not sure exactly what to expect, I remained focused and excited throughout the journey.