This week, I got a double dose of bad news. But upon further reflection, I realize that it might actually be fate telling me I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.
I applied for a leadership position within my school that would have given me the opportunity to “lead” teachers in many ways, most notably presenting professional development opportunities for them to help them fullfill the district’s vision of a true community school. But not getting it means I dodged a little bit of a bullet – the population of teachers at Kennedy High School is a bit older, and dare I say a bit… negative about anything that might disrupt their daily flow of teaching routines. I definitely understand, having been the victim of some terrible PD sessions over the years. And so I imagine it would have been quite difficult dealing with the “resistance” that comes with the reality of moving teachers, and in turn moving systems. Not meant to be.
No open positions at Dale Junior High means I’m “stuck” at Kennedy for the foreseeable future. But is this really a bad thing? The kids are definitely a breath of fresh air after 10 years of middle school. And after a rather dramatic department meeting, I ended up with the same essential schedule (although only 1 period of IB this time, and 4 periods of regular World History). I told the students in IB the “bad news”, and phrased it in exactly that way – that it was bad news that I was staying at Kennedy and would be remaining the 12th grade History of the Americas teacher. They all clapped enthusiastically. It’s pretty obvious to me I’ve captured their hearts, even if my teaching isn’t “up to par” quite yet.
Maybe I’m not a great “teacher of content”. Maybe I’m not a master of history and I don’t necessarily have the depth of knowledge quite yet to teach a “college-level” course. Maybe due to all my years in middle school, it was always less about the content and more about the students. But maybe, just maybe I’m doing something more successful in a way with these students – recognizing their humanity, something that is a bit neglected at times by their teachers since these kids are the school’s true overachievers.
Either way, I’m not going to sweat it, and will probably enjoy remaining at Kennedy next year.
Of course, that means I get to see Kai an hour less every single day, which is quite unfortunate. But on the flip side – I haven’t heard back about summer school yet, so it’s looking more and more likely I’ll be stuck with him the entire summer!!! Hope to update you on Kai’s first Spring Break adventures which technically start tomorrow.
