Awaiting a day 22 years in the making!

One upon a time there was a little girl with curly red hair, freckles, and an imagination that fuelled her every move.  She played school into the late hours of the evening, pretending that she was the teacher rather than the pupil.  She created class lists and seating charts to prepare for a class that she ever so carefully knit together in her dreams.  With the innocence of a child, she could do no wrong and had the world at her fingertips as she paced her classroom within the comfortable and safe wall of what she called home.

Fast forward to a fear full student, walking into her first college class at the University of Dayton.  This little girl's imagination had carried her to the doors of Chaminade Hall, where her dream to touch the future would soon become a reality. 

Four years later, here I am...no longer that little girl, yet somehow one in the same.  No longer imaginary students, but rather a roster of 15 students whom I can only imagine.  Story books have been traded for textbooks and novels of all kinds.  The wonder and awe, still there, seem to grow by the day as I await the arrival of a day that has been 22 years in the making.

I have decided to create this blog in order to share my trials, tears, train wrecks, and triumphs; all of which are bound to happen as I embark on my first year of teaching.  I have been blessed with the opportunity to teach special education at Worthington Christian High School.  The summer has had its ups and downs; yet, as always, God has been faithful and has provided a way out of what has been a long and confusing few months.  I am now confident that God has lead me to me to this exact place for an amazing adventure!

I have speant the last 2 weeks in my classroom, a structure that many may call a trailer, but we at WCHS lovingly refer to as "the modular".  Despite the bitter aftertaste of the word, it actually is a great space.  My classroom is long and thin and is essentially broken down into 2 smaller rooms.  In one room are computers, work stations, and loads of filing cabinets full of resources that have been collected/ created over the span of 30 years.  In the other is my desk, a large work table, and shelves upon shelves of textbooks and novels that have accumulated over the past 30 years.  30 years...the amount of time that the teacher before me spent in the position I now hold.  Talk about big shoes to fill...no pressure!

The past few weeks have consisted of many trips to the dumpster and more cleaning than I care to believe is possible.  After dozens and dozens of long days and late nights, I finally feel like it is MY CLASSROOM!  The dream is finally a reality as I begin to clean out the last of the books whose copyright dates are dated long before my time. 

As I prepare for tomorrow, touching up lesson plans, planning the first-day-of-school outfit, and refining my lesson plans, I can't help but smile.  Tomorrow, I will look into the eyes of 15 adolescents, as we vow to run this race together.  A victory of sorts, yet only the beginning of a journey that is bound to be one of my greatest lessons learned. 

Until Tomorrow,
Ms. Phillips