Movin' On Up
Four years in fifth. Year five in sixth. You read that right. I'm movin' on to middle school.
The past four school years have been wonderful to me. I fell in love with fifth grade. Those of you who don't know, I did NOT sign up to be a fifth grade math & science teacher. I thought I was taking a third grade maternity leave spot upon graduation. Before I knew it I was on the phone with our AP who asked me if I could start two months before planned in a permanent fifth grade M&S spot... not to mention with one of those classes being a gifted cluster, and the other filled with several staff member kids.
Flash forward and here I am moving on to sixth. I used to joke that I can see myself teaching both elementary and high school, but NEVER would I EVER go to middle school. Those hormones are too much to handle. However, life seems to throw us curve balls and we fall in love with people and things we've never dreamed of.
Choosing to leave my school was a hard decision. They have always been good to me here. I know the families and the community and I have made the best of friends at my job. Through the years some I'm closest to have moved on, things change, which ultimately makes the transition a tad bit easier. But the honest to God hardest part of the decision was choosing to walk away from the upcoming fifth grade class. Several of these kiddos were in my internship class here at my school years ago. MANY others I have taught their siblings, and a large chunk of them are on my math team that I started in 2016. I LOVE these kids so much and I have been waiting to teach them for years. THEY were the hardest part of my decision. Coworkers are easy to stay in touch with, students and their families not as much. But, there will be other students and families. There will be many more classes in my future, with many more children to enrich.
I have been considering moving on to middle school since the beginning of this year. I was back and forth for awhile on whether or not to even send out my resume and if it was really something I even wanted. I eventually realized that if it was meant to be there would be signs. I prayed about it and God answered as loud as can be. It first started when our learning community made the decision to paint our entire school mid-school year. We had to remove everything off the walls. Everything that had been up for four years and that took forever to gradually make beautiful. A week later, my sister-in-law Sarah, who is also a teacher in our district, randomly let me know there was a brand new middle school opening up in the fall. She had NO idea I was even considering the switch. Without getting into too much detail yet, the hints and clues continued to grow clearer, larger, and louder. I sent in my resume, interviewed, and was offered the job on the spot, and now I get to be a part of opening a brand new school.
With this week being our last full week of school things are getting to be a bit bittersweet. Changes are ahead and I don't know what to expect, but this being a personal blog I wanted to share and update. I look forward to the future and everything I have to learn. Thanks for the mems fifth grade.
xo,
Jenn
Goodbye:
