Okay, So….

How many people here can say that they get to have fun while busting their butt, everyday, AND get paid for it?  PLUS get mucho vacation AND summers off?  Go ahead…raise your hands….

Just me?  Oh, okay.

My new schedule for the new school year is absolutely AWESOME!!!!

I don’t know if I ranted about my tentative schedule at the end of Spring last year, but when I received my "possible" schedule from administration, it had me teaching THREE (3) choir classes.  I thought this was rather absurd because out of all the classes I already had (probably about 185 students), less than 10% of the kids actually wanted to sing and/or be in choir.  They wanted to play guitar in the band, but not too many wanted to sing.  The AP told me she had that many kids sign up for choir, so I spent the entire summer trying to prepare myself for three separate choir classes with the option of creating three types of choir OR combining them into one mass choir for performances.  Either way, I was highly stressed about what to do with my dilemma.  I was also bitter because the band teacher was given a music appreciation/theory course to teach that he didn’t WANT to teach – the one class I actually did want to teach.

Fast forward to yesterday: I received my "Welcome back to [insert school name here]!" letter.  The gist was, "Looking forward to this year…blah, blah, blah…here’s the schedule for the buyback days…blah, blah, blah…the new school starting time is 7:24…blah, blah, blah…your tentative schedule for the fall is below.  Please be flexible as this schedule may change before the first norm day of school due to personnel changes, etc…blah, blah, blah."  So, I scan the letter, and move to the bottom of the page where my schedule for the year is listed:

Class 1:  Yearbook
Class 2:  Chorus
Class 3:  Leadership
Class 4:  Common Planning Time (i.e. my conference/planning period)

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!  Who, in the name of all that is holy, gets to have a schedule like THIS?!?!  I don’t think I should be allowed to have this much fun!!!!  AND THEY’RE PAYING ME FOR IT!!!!  I’m guessing that you only have to have a teaching license to "teach" yearbook and to teach Leadership courses, as opposed to a specific license.  When I was in school, yearbook wasn’t even a class, but I think it’s different here because of UTLA contract rules.  In any case, it’ll be hard work, but oh my gosh, how much FUN will my life be this year?!?!

Now, breaking the schedule down:
A)  Teaching Yearbook and Leadership is a great move for me because, from the very beginning (as in, my interview last year), the principal told me she "doesn’t need a choir, we want a band," which is NOT what any choir teacher wants to hear.  So, obviously the first worry in my head is that the choral program will be cut if I don’t do a fantabulous job, and it could happen even if I do do a fantabulous job.  Hence, teaching other subjects and teaching them well, hopefully would secure me a spot at the school even if they have to cut the choral program itself.

B)  Having only one choir to start with will make building and developing the choral program a bit easier.  I don’t have a whole lot of resources at my disposal right now, so until I can build a proper library for various choirs, starting with only one and getting a handle on what the students would like to see happen will be a good beginning for the program.  It will also afford me the time to separate amongst the three types of students I’ll be teaching.  I’m not stupid and I know that all three of these classes will require a pretty high level of outside commitment.  If I had all choir classes and was asked to help with Leadership on top of that, plus being a club sponsor, and possibly the colorguard coordinator, not to mention co-managing Matt’s band, I’d die before the first ten-weeks is over. 

And yes, I know I can say "no," to things, but as a probationary teacher, it’s not wise to not be involved in as much a way as to show the administration that you love what you do and you care about the students, so it would be a tough position either way.  Right now, my only fear is how I’m going to work my grading scale.  I’ve looked at various syllabii, etc. online, but I can’t find any other classes that grade the way we’re going into – 4 quarters, essentially a semester’s worth of classes in 10 weeks.  I’m sure I can get some advice in the first few days, but I’m still a little worried about it.

I’m also worried about developing the yearbook staff, etc.  I’ve never taught a yearbook class and this school has never had a yearbook class.  Remember, we only opened last September and last year was more about getting the academics down.  This year is when we start to become a "real school" in the sense of the social scene.  Hence, there are no previous yearbook records/resources for me to look to.  That includes information about who to contact for yearbooks, etc.  But I’m thinking I’ll go with Jostens because they’re the foremost developer of yearbooks/school memorabilia. 

In short – I am SO freaking excited about this year!!!!!!!!!