I have so much to learn!

A new job always means new skills, new ways of doing things, new ways of thinking even.  My new job means all of those things to a degree that I half expected, but couldn't understand the reality of until I began.

My return to teaching after nearly nine years of maternity leave and study was always going to be a challenge.  I was happy during that time not to be in the classroom, because I had become the teacher that I had always said should no longer be there.  The one who wasn't passionate and interested in their students or material any more.  I was a student again, of motherhood, Italian, and Renaissance History.  And I loved it.

This year I am no longer a student.  That is, not formally.  I am a teacher again, but as much as I will be imparting knowledge and skills to teenagers, I will also be learning to be a teacher all over again.  

Things that I will be learning:

• A new curriculum.  They snuck that in there while I was away and suddenly the 'new curriculum' that was current all those years ago has disappeared and this new document exists.  I must read it.
• A new way of teaching.  Co-teaching.  With teachers from different subjects to my own.  Actually this bit is really exciting and the planning that I have been doing with my co-teachers is lending me that inspiration that was lacking for so long.
• A new system.  Well, lots of them really.  Everything is device-based and I need to get my head around both the way of doing things and the tools of the online environment to enable me to do them.
• A new pedagogy.  Haha, pedagogy at all.  I am not a terribly theoretical person, and have been lucky enough to have the skills to get in there and just teach without worrying about the reasons why.  But now I am surrounded by a new type of teaching and learning, as well as some incredible colleagues who are both inspirational and knowledgeable, and I feel I should actually know a bit more about why I do things how I do them.
• A new set of acronyms.  And jargon.  I thought the military husband pulled them out just to make me feel ignorant, but now I have more than him.  I just need to know what they actually mean.
• And, to blog.  This is my first ever, and so far it seems to be working for me...

And do you know what?  That inspiration and excitement is coming alive again.  I am also learning to be the teacher that I should and can be, inside myself.  That, I think, is one of the most important lessons of all.

What lessons will life be teaching you in the next while?

Any comments or questions?

Learn lots,

Trace.