I've been trying to describe how wonderful it has been coming from student teaching to teaching professionally. It's like having new-found freedom that I didn't even know existed. The first few times I tried to log-in to the online grading system, I very nearly texted my old cooperating teachers to see if they were already logged in or not. The text would have been in vain because I have my OWN Skyward account, username and password now.
When I go to add grades I'm still kind of gun-shy because I forget these are all MY students in MY classroom where I get to make the decisions...one of those decisions being making the call on what student/classes need an extension and what student/classes have abused the time given to them.
I DO answer to a higher authority, but that higher authority has hired me on the basis that they trust I will do my job well, otherwise I wouldn't be here. That's definitely something I need to keep reminding myself of. I am teaching at this school because I was invited to. They saw a good teacher in me and asked me to teach 120 of their 2,000 students.
I'm having a blast! I brought home an entire BOX of grading because I hate myself I guess, but I'm still managing my own assessment "calendar" you could say.
UHigh was lightyears away from what a regular high school is. I kept saying it wasn't, but little things set it apart. For example: I had a student in my class yesterday who was wearing his hat during class. It never once even crossed my mind that that wasn't okay. Another teacher came in to give me something and she noticed, got his attention and touched her head. I apologized to him, saying I should have said something first. Dress code. Huh. Forgot those were a thing.
I was sharing some of these thoughts with my department head, about how I'm still second-guessing myself because I'm still used to being a guest in someone else's classroom. She said, "It's like that scene in Shawshank Redemption where Morgan Freeman is working in a grocery store and he asks his manager if he can go to the bathroom. And his manager says 'You don't have to ask'"
It's exactly like that.
