First day at a new school

What a strange day today was.

I did something I've been doing for years now, yet I did it in a brand new environment. What a weird and sometimes disconcerting feeling that was.

After spending the first four years of my teaching career at the school where I student taught, I had never known the feeling of truly teaching at another school. That all changed today, on my first day at Wenatchee High School.

Nothing was substantially different -- kids are kids, although working with my new publications staffs was a little different than usual because they don't know me yet -- but the little things throw you off a little bit. Things like the school not having a bell to signal the end of periods, but silent lights. Or transitioning from 90-minute classes to 57-minute classes and discovering you didn't plan enough to fill the shorter period for fear of overplanning in the first place.

All in all, though, it's been and exhilarating and invigorating process, moving to a new school. The department I've moved into is wonderful, and the teachers there have supported me in every way imaginable. I hardly could have asked for a better situation, and I know things will grow more comfortable as the month moves along.

But I can't help but wonder what's going to go on my old classroom tomorrow on the first day of school in Puyallup, especially with the staff of the newspaper I advised. It's a strange feeling, knowing kids you cared about so much are going to be led by someone else. But in time, these kids here will become my family, too.