Tag: back to school

Best Year Yet

Best Year Yet

by suzannamoberg ♥ 4 Comments

I love back to school shopping – I can’t help it! (Well, really, I just love shopping…but that’s a discussion for another time lol)

There’s nothing quite like the joy I feel when I wander through the aisles of Target picking out matching folders and notebooks, comparing pastel and neon highlighters, and checking to make sure I have all the new colors of flair pens.  

While I love the feeling of back to school shopping, I can’t say I’ve always loved the feeling of actually going back to school.  

The first day of school comes with a ton of new emotions. I remember as a student feeling nervous before the first day. Did I pick out a cute enough outfit? Would I like my teacher(s) or have any friends in my classes? Would I do or say something embarrassing that would haunt me all school year? Gives me goosebumps just thinking of all the terrible things that could have been!  

The first day of school was also exciting. I got to see my old friends for the first time in a few months. I got to get back into my routine and schedule (and open all those cool new school supplies I’d just gotten). I was excited for my clubs and activities to start back up, for swim meets and speech meets and choir festivals. I was also excited to be another year older and closer to finally growing up.  

A lot of these same emotions still exist as a teacher. Still nervous to meet new groups of students and start the process of pronouncing new names and memorizing new faces. Still nervous about the outfit I picked out and the accessories I’d chosen. Still excited for the new possibilities and opportunities to connect with new students, to decorate a new classroom, and to create new lessons.  

This year, all those nerves and that excitement for the new was heightened as I started at a new school!

Last year, I chose a theme song for my year that I could listen to when I needed a little pick-me-up or support. Every morning (or at least every “B” day morning – if you know you know), I blasted Francesca Battistelli’s song God Is Good. “Joy comes, tears fall / I’m learning there is beauty in it all” became my new tag line to myself as I hit some of my lowest moments in the school year.

This year, I went a different route for my theme song. On the first day of school, a new coworker texted me the link to this song, and after one chorus I knew it was a sign. Vacation by Dirty Heads starts with the lines “I’m on vacation / Every singly day ‘cause I love my occupation.” I mean really, could there be a better song to start off the year?!

Being a teacher is hard – I’m not even one week into the new year and I’m debating if 7:00 pm is too early to crawl into bed! But wow, what a different a new school, new coworkers, new students, new theme song, and new start can make.

Happy back to school everybody, I hope we all have the best year yet.

Advice for an Adviser

Advice for an Adviser

by suzannamoberg ♥ 1 Comment

As a high schooler, I was super involved in clubs and extracurricular activities. With swim and speech practice and meets, choir and band concerts and festivals, student council, national honor society, FBLA, and drama, I was always busy and on the go – and I wouldn’t change a thing! I had fun, made so many memories, and learned skills that still help me in both my every day and professional life.

Part of my positive experience in each activity was my passion for what I was doing. Part of it was the friendships I made in each group. And part of it was the advisers who gave so much of their time and energy to make sure I was having these great experiences.

I’m getting a new and exciting opportunity at my new school this year. I am taking over as the yearbook teacher/adviser!

…

I am both anxious and eager for this upcoming year. I’ve never been an adviser before, and I want to make sure that my students get the same fun, meaningful, and positive experiences that I got from my high school activities.

A few weeks ago, I attended a yearbook conference hosted by the publishing company I’ll be working with. I learned so much about the ins and outs of creating and selling a yearbook (and I got a fun shirt, water bottle, and tons of candy – truly, what an event!). Now, I need the students to come back so we can get to work creating the 20th anniversary copy of our yearbook!

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Side note: it is still so crazy to me to see my name printed as a teacher not a student! Does that ever go away?!

…

While I (not so patiently) wait, I’m looking for a little advice:

  • when you think about or look over your high school yearbook(s), what are things you like about the book? what are things you would change about or add to the book?
  • when you were in high school, what are things that advisers did for you that you still remember or appreciate? what are things you needed from an adviser that you didn’t get?
  • if you are (or were) an adviser (especially yearbook!), how did you balance those tasks with your normal teaching and life? and what are things you would suggest for a new adviser just starting out?
School’s Out For Summer?

School’s Out For Summer?

by suzannamoberg ♥ 2 Comments

It has been one month since the school year ended, and I have followed through on my “Summer of Suz” promise to myself – plenty of travel, pool days, and relaxation after a whirlwind year!

And, I’ve been working on my summer reading list! Thanks to my amazing family and friends, I have a great collection of young adult and middle grade texts in my classroom library collection. But, also because of the family and friends in question, my TBR (To Be Read) list seems to only grow bigger and bigger. So, it’s not so much a TBR list as it is a TBR bucket…and I’ve made it through five of those titles in June 😊 I can’t wait to add these titles to my classroom library this fall.

  • Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
  • We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez
  • In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
  • Love From A to Z by S. K. Ali
  • We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Nielsen

…

As much as I’ve loved my evenings reading and daily TikTok binges, I just would not be myself if I didn’t squeeze some work in every once in a while, too. I’ve gotten to see my new classroom and tour part of my new school, I have applied to a new graduate program, I’ve registered for conferences & professional development seminars, studied for a Praxis exam (that test is next week – wish me luck), searched for a new place to live so I can start the moving process, and more.

So, even as I relax and soak up the daily snuggles from my puppy (snuggles that I miss so much when I’m at school all day), I still feel a little anxious for all that is happening outside the “Summer of Suz.” There is so much to do to prepare for what comes when summer is done!

While some days it is easy for me to push aside the little voice in my head whispering all the things I should be doing when I sit down with my book, it has been a little harder for me this week.

Because it’s summer and I finally have time to do things during the day, I purposely scheduled doctor’s appointments and checkups during these summer days. This week, I just happened to have three different appointments. As one does, we started each appointment with pleasantries: how I’m doing (always “Well” in case you were wondering), exclamations about the weather (it’s true, we are having a hot summer), you know the drift. And, without fail, the question “What do you do?” is always posed rather soon into the conversation. The response “I’m a teacher” is met with a few follow-up questions.

None of this bothers me. In fact, it’s kind of refreshing to talk to adults and not high school students who already know way too much about you and no longer care to address pleasantries.

What did bother me, however, was the follow-up question that I answered at each of my appointments this week. When I told the helpful nurses and assistants and doctors that I am a teacher, each one responded with something along the lines of “Gosh, it must be nice to have nothing to do all summer, huh?”  

…

You know what, I’m sure it would be nice to have nothing to do all summer! I personally can’t say I’m familiar with the feeling, but I imagine it’s a great one 😉

As much as I try to live my poolside, ultra-relaxed, dream summer lifestyle, I can’t fully ignore that little voice pushing me to get some work done. I can’t seem to fully push down the guilt I have when I don’t open my computer, or the anxiety I get when I think about the upcoming school year and how much uncertainty I still feel.

Teachers – I could use some advice. If you are currently a teacher, if you were previously a teacher, if you just happen to know a lot about teachers, help me out. What is the best way to balance summer relaxation with productivity for the next school year??!! Because I think we all know that school is definitely not out just because it’s summer – but I’d still like to enjoy this little break!

Defeated

Defeated

by suzannamoberg ♥ 1 Comment

I felt defeated today.

Well, defeated might not be the right word.

I felt frustrated. Discouraged. Exhausted.

Over a 50-minute virtual class.

…

As a first-year teacher—bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and naïve—this is not what I imagined my first year of teaching would be. There was supposed to be a Pinterest-perfect classroom set up for group work and flexible seating. There were supposed to be students in the desks. There was supposed to be discussion and collaboration. Inside jokes and laughter. Engagement and learning.

I never pictured a blank classroom with empty desks that face forward and are spaced as far apart as possible.

I never pictured preparing for a school year only to find out that plans were changing (almost weekly) and I’d be teaching virtually for at least two more months.

I never pictured my students appearing only as small little boxes on a computer screen never to be seen or heard from once they’ve entered the meeting.

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I like to be in control, and in my COVID classroom, there is no such thing as control.

How do you manage a classroom when your classroom is spread out into 40 different households?

How do you adjust wait time when your students are probably napping and are definitely not listening to any question you’re asking?

(I had a real life “Bueller? Bueller?” moment today and it was definitely not as funny as the movie made it out to be).  

How do you engage students who have decided that virtual school is the worst thing that could possibly happen to them?

How do you sympathize with the seniors who feel robbed of all the “lasts” that were supposed to come with this year?

(Because guess what? I feel robbed, too.)

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So much new. So much different. It’s taking a while for me to accept that new and different do not equal bad.

…

I felt defeated today.

But I won’t feel defeated every day.

And for now?

That’s just going to have to be enough.

First Day of School as a Teacher

First Day of School as a Teacher

by suzannamoberg ♥ 1 Comment

Today a student asked a question and I genuinely forgot that I was the one who was supposed to answer.

It wasn’t a hard question or one that was above my paygrade (although, with everything changing every day due to the pandemic, most questions are above my paygrade).

It wasn’t a trick question meant to mess with my head or make me look dumb in front of my students.

A student simply asked me what they could expect from this course.

And I sat. I nodded. I acknowledged that it was a good question. And then I waited for the teacher to answer.

Only…

I’m the teacher.

What.

I’d like to say I recovered smoothly, but this is a space to be honest, and, honestly, I did not recover smoothly. After what felt like 7 ½ years of awkward silence, I stumbled my way through an answer about a “variety of assessment tools” and “a little bit of everything.” The students still probably have no clue what to expect this year, but *spoiler alert* neither do I.

I have no clue what this year looks like for us. My school is opting for a virtual classroom environment the first few months of school until the COVID cases in our area begin to decrease. Unfortunately, my teacher prep program didn’t quite get to the “How to Prepare for Your First School Year As a Teacher When You Might Be Teaching Online and Also In Person and Also Maybe Probably Both All During A Global Pandemic” chapter in our textbook.

I have no clue where to begin. The other teachers at my school are amazing (and I truly mean amazing), but I have so many questions that I don’t even know what questions I have any more. I didn’t get access to my curriculum until 2 days before school started and I have no clue where to start. I keep looking at this blank Schoology folder and hoping that magically some great, engaging, standards-based lessons will just appear. Maybe I’ll keep drinking this Stella Peach until they do 😉 Ha!

Anyways, stay tuned as I hopefully figure out how to lesson plan—and how to not panic when I remember that I’m the teacher now. Happy back to school!