Mrs. Jackson

I have now been Mrs. Jackson for an entire week to 79 middle and high schoolers.

Over Thanksgiving the opportunity arose to teach one class at an online Utah charter school.  After collecting all of my teaching information and gathering letters of recommendation, I applied in early December and found out just before Christmas break that the job was mine.

It has been a wonderful addition to my life.  Around 11:30 Emily goes down for a nap and I start my office hours then.  I reply to emails, chat with students, grade assignments, and do a little planning all before she wakes up.  She eats lunch while I work next to her, and then we usually just have about 20-30 minutes left of office hours where I just chat with students and respond to emails as they come.  It works perfectly.

I love working with students. I love coming up with new ideas to try and get them to see the value in the course and complete their assignments with enthusiasm.  I love having other colleagues to discuss teaching with. I’m extremely curious to see how this semester goes and how I can improve in the future. This job is an incredible curve ball that I wasn’t expecting but I am excitedly embracing.

My school picture:

As soon as I found out this job was a possibility, I went into turbo organizing mode and got our office cleaned up.  I also set up a desk area for Emily to work with me.  We don’t successfully work side-by-side yet (the computer work I do trumps anything she could possibly be working on) but she has started using her space throughout the day.  Yesterday I was washing dishes and I thought she was in the kitchen too, but after a few quiet minutes I discovered she had gone upstairs to draw at her desk.  That was an exciting first!