3 Down, 27 to go!

It's over. 3 years of teaching under my belt. I barely made it with my insanity in tact. I mean my sanity. I'm pretty much insane right now.

Can I just say? I've never been so exhausted in my entire life. This year about finished me off and I am SO glad it's over and now I can look ahead to a sunny vacation in Kauai. And relax. And sleep in. And sloooooooooooow way down.

I always get a little depressed right at the beginning of summer vacation. I think the transition is really hard for some reason. I go from responsible for planning and teaching and nurturing 7 classes/200+ students every day to...nothing. All of the sudden I have all the time in the world, and I manage it very poorly. It's an abrupt change. And despite all the whining I've done to friends and family members in the past month or so...I really love my job and I miss it during the summer. Until August comes rolling around. Then I won't miss it at all.

So, here's what's coming up:

Next year I teach a brand new class!! This time, it's something I was trained to do and I'm actually excited about it. I'm also really nervous--there's a lot of equipment setup that needs to be taken care of before I start, so I'm going to have to go to work a little this summer. I don't want to go in unprepared.

Next year I will be a career teacher!! That means I'm no longer on probation and I won't have to be evaluated at all during the school year. YES! One less thing to worry about.

I get my prep period back! I've missed it desperately. :) And better yet, it's during 4th period. When I could actually use a break!

Only three total preps. And by preps, I mean classes. I'll be teaching Exploring Tech 1 and CTE 3, which I've pretty much got down, and then Intro to Engineering, which will be a bit of a challenge since it's new.

NO KEYBOARDING. I get to stay in my classroom all day. No sharing a classroom with another teacher! Hallelujah!

Lots to look forward to, I think. And before I even think about all that stuff, I've got a summer full of trips and sun and fun and relaxation. I don't think I've ever needed a long vacation like I do right now. This past year burned me out. I hope I recover enough this summer to do a better job next year. We'll see.

One thing this year has taught me: If I could handle that (which I did), I can handle anything.