First Post!

First off, I would like to thank Sara for inviting me to contribute to this great blog! As a first year teacher in a small town, it is so easy to feel isolated. I teach 5th-12th grade band, and the only other music teachers are the choir director and general music teacher. While they are both lovely people, there are so many issues unique to BAND. I have been journaling furiously to try and curb my mounting anxiety, but it can still be a struggle navigating the unknown. Quotes from my journal include:

• "I have no classmates to 'keep pace' with. I'm not totally sure that I'm on track." (8/15/10)
• "Well, today I attended New Teacher (dis)Orientation. I do not feel as "oriented" as I would have hoped. Learned that I'm the youngest staff member... and the only real first year teacher in my buildings. So much for having a partner in commiseration..."(8/16/10)
• "I can't figure out the balance between work and... not work." (8/17/10)
• "For all the b*tching and moaning I do (in this journal), I am so grateful for my fellow new teacher friends. I really hope we continue to meet up and be close over the course of the foreseeable future." (8/28/10)

As I read the posts on the blog, I can tell that I'm not alone. There are some things that we all go through as new teachers, and what doesn't get the best of us makes us better! I think I get a little too wound up by my mistakes and failures. I would like to end my post with a story from one of my favorite books, Benjamin and Rosamund Stone Zander's The Art of Possibility:

Two prime ministers are sitting in a room discussing affairs of state. Suddenly a man bursts in, apoplectic with fury, shouting and stamping and banging his fist on the desk. The resident prime minister admonishes him: "Peter," he says, "kindly remember Rule Number 6," whereupon Peter is instantly restored to complete calm, apologizes, and withdraws. The politicians return to their conversation, only to be interrupted yet again twenty minutes later by an hysterical woman gesticulating wildly, her hair flying. Again the intruder is greeted with the words: "Marie, please remember Rule Number 6." Complete calm descends once more, and she too withdraws with a bow and an apology. When the scene is repeated for a third time, the visiting prime minister addresses his colleague: "My dear friend, I've seen many things in my life, but never anything as remarkable as this. Would you be willing to share with me the secret of Rule Number 6?" "Very simple," replies the resident prime minister. "Rule Number 6 is 'Don't take yourself so goddamn seriously.'" "Ah, says his visitor, "that is a very fine rule." After a moment of pondering, he inquires, "And what, may I ask, are the other rules?"

"There aren't any."

This week's goal for me: please remember Rule Number 6 :)