It almost doesn't feel real - that it's already second semester. First semester flew by so quickly I barely had time to register it! Although I taught elementary last year, I have the privilege of teaching high school! I love to teach personal finance and personal relationships. Those have been Ed Harbor requirements for the last four years, as I am extremely passionate about making sure students are ready to manage money and relationships in the "real world." It's honestly one of my favorite classes.
This semester, I have the honor of teaching World Literature again, and taking a crack at Spanish 1 and ASL 1. I've been studying both for a number of years, including culture and dialects. I thoroughly have passion for other languages and with nearly 17% of the population deaf / hard of hearing, it's more important than ever for our students to be able to communicate in multiple languages. We are one of the only countries that don't automatically teach our children to be bilingual - and that's a shame! The earlier students learn a language, the easier it is!
It's almost enrollment time again! Honestly, I always get a little nervous this time of year - who is going to stay? Is anyone who I thought was happy actually unhappy? Is anyone going to surprise me? As someone who has always been a bit of a "please pleaser," I've had to re-train myself to do what is best for the school regardless of who is unhappy. It has lost me some friendships, but the school is stronger for it, and we strengthen our program every year. Inevitably, there will always be problems, but the more we can figure them out in advance, the easier our process becomes when we run across them.
On the other hand, I love thinking about how to improve the program - the schedules, the classes, the paperwork, the engagement, etc. I've already played with the schedule for next year! I think it's going to be pretty great. Of course, I'm bias!
