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I have some awesome news to share with everyone. My summer just got shorter, but in a good way!As of last Friday, I am the new K-8 Art Educator at Carter School of Excellence! It’s a CPS elementary school on Chicago’s south side. I’ll be honest, interviewing for teaching jobs was a stressful, anxiety inducing, crazy month of my life. Just ask my mom. I can’t believe she didn’t hang up on me for all of the times I called her up to tell her I was freaking out. I’m sure I was incredibly annoying.

In the end, I definitely feel like it all paid off. I’m so excited to have found a job with what seems like a great team of administrators, teachers, and staff (we’ve already gotten to meet each other). The school year starts in August, and I begin new teacher training during the third week of July. So, yes, my summer did get shorte,r but in a really exciting way!

This will pretty much be a new school, and I am going over old lesson plans now and beginning to think of a basic sequence for at least the first semester. I’m trying to think of everything from what I want my eight graders to know before they go to high school, to what I think kindergartners ought to be able to do by the end of the year. There’s a lot to think about, and I definitely am looking for opportunities to collaborate with some of the other teachers in my school.

I have a long list of other things that I’m pondering, like how I want my classroom to look. I have a basic idea, but I’m not sure yet what type of room setup I’ll have. I need posters, bookcases, storage cabinets, etc. I also am going to contact my cooperating teachers to find out what they think are the essential supplies all elementary art teachers need throughout the school year—aside from paper, pencils, and paint!

This will be an exciting year. I’m sure there will be ups and downs.  In fact, I fully expect some serious downs as a first year teacher in a turnaround school, but I’m mentally prepared and feeling up to the challenge. I can’t wait to meet my students!