an end to vagueness

This one's for you Melanie.

I realize I've been pretty vague lately, which is namely due to lack of motivation or brainpower...or both. Mostly my life has just been too up in the air for me to give an accurate description of what's going on, so I've been waiting for things to get settled. It seems like the news and my expectations are changing daily (today was no exception), but I think from here on out I finally know what I'm in for. Well, I at least have my preconceived notions of what I'm in for.

I have a new job.

You know how I've been saying I'm bored and I need some change? The past several weeks have delivered all kinds of craziness and with it comes a torrent of change. First, there was the application process. Then there was the drama of deciding between two jobs whose hiring time table is unfortunately not moving at the same pace. So I made my decision a few days ago and was thrown another curve ball: I might be working with Junior Highers. Just as I was getting used to that idea, I found out I'd be working at a charter school instead with elementary schoolers. Then, my fingerprinting cleared in a matter of hours instead of days or weeks, which left my supervisor asking me, "Can you start on Monday?" I told her I'd call her back.

Here's the job: After school program. We go from the time the bell rings until 6:00pm. Classes are comprised of 20 students, grouped together as best as possible according to age. The day is split into three parts: homework help, recreation, and enrichment activity. We have our class for 8 weeks and then we switch so that each class gets to experience a different enrichment activity. Mine will be music for obvious reasons.

I'm in denial. I'm really excited. I also know this is probably going to kill me [read: kick my ass] the first week or two. But it is a change and it is a challenge and I know I'm going to learn so much. The charter school I'm at is especially arts focused, which I think will provide a lot of cool opportunities since the kids will likely have more exposure than kids at a public school. I also think I'm going to meet some really bizarre, hippie parents. There will stories, that is for certain.

If anyone knows how to run a classroom or has any teaching tips in general please throw them my way. Anything from discipline procedure to first day introductions. Please.