Second year

WOW! I cant believe how much of a difference a proper room and the second year of teaching can be. Holy smokes, I feel like a real teacher this year.

First year bummers that only happen your first year (ie, something to look forward for all of the years after)
- not knowing who to go to for simple questions
- not knowing ANY students names the first week of school
- reports and paper work taking DAYS to figure out: where to get this paper, what do i do with it, do i even need to fill it out, where do i take this paper, who do i give it to, what is it for?
- being at a loss if a class finishes the lesson 5-10 minutes early
- accepting that sometimes teachers drop off students 5 minutes early and pick them up 5 minutes late


all of these things happened last year and none of them happened this year, along with several other things that i just cant (dont want to) think of right now.

In addition to knowing what I'm doing, my new room is about 3-4 times the size of my classroom last year. I can spare a whole corner of the room for time out, we can do movement exercises without kids falling into the wall, my desk, or each other. It's awesome and has made such an amazing impact on my teaching. Also just being inside the building keeps me in touch with the kids and other teachers. That helps tremendously, I can now use the bathroom in a matter of minutes! I can make myself hot tea just by walking across the hall! My teaching career has taken a turn for the better simply by not being my first year and by having the most awesome room ever.