I'm really dealing with going back to work soon. This week is the last week that I'm not required to be at school for some type of in-service. The next two weeks are full of it until the first day of school.
On the bright side, I am finally starting to feel excited about my class. This is much better than my initial feelings, which included terror and uncertainty. Let me clue you in if you are studying to be a teacher--you get the job, and they give you your classroom and basically just tell you to go. There was pretty much NO guidance given and I was a little panicky at first, I have to admit.
Luckily, the 3 other teachers for 3rd grade are super sweet and have been very helpful to me. We are semi-departmentalized, meaning I will teach science and math to my students and the teacher next door's students and she will be teaching both of our groups literacy and social studies. The other two teachers will be doing the same format. The teacher I am partnered with was new last year, so she's been very understanding. I told her I felt like I would have done better had I been fresh out of school, and she said she graduated in 1999 and last year was her first year, so she knew exactly how I felt. Maybe it's just that misery loves company, but I felt much better after she said that!
The main issue I'm having with work right now is leaving Ezra. I've already been through some rough days, but I think I'm doing better now. It helps to know that he will be kept by his Nana, who is great with him. I won't worry about him being safe or scared at all.
He's been doing very well during the days that I have had workshops, etc. save one thing: milk. He won't take it from a bottle or a cup. He never has taken to a bottle well at all (he's been exclusively breastfed) and he is starting to use the cup well, but only if it has water in it. I guess he's just too smart and knows that milk usually comes from somewhere else. I joke that he likes his milk "straight from the tap" but I guess I'd rather have home-made than store bought too, ha! This hasn't affected his nursing when I am home, which is good, but I just worry about him not getting enough milk every day. I really think that once he gets used to me not being around for part of the day, every day, he will take the cup. He's just going to have to learn it's that or nothing, and he's done pretty well with learning that concept with other things, so I don't expect it to be too much of an issue.
Well, I'm going to go get ready to go to school. Today I'm hoping to get my classroom library organized and then going to Wal-Mart for supplies and checking at Dollar Tree for some decorations (they have amazing deals on teacher stuff, which is pleasantly surprising).
P.S. I'm typing this while Ezra naps and PBS is on TV from earlier...Is it just me, or is it weird to see new episodes of Barney still using the same songs they sang when I was a kid? Suddenly I know the words of the song they are singing, and it's sort of surreal.
