This last week was Back to School week, and it was a doozy.

For context, I taught for the past five years at a small rural Oregon High School with 120 students. This year I’m teaching at a large urban California Middle School with nearly ten times the number of students. Maybe that’s all I have to say for people to be like, ‘oh, duh, it’s different.’ But it is one thing to know it is going to be different, and another to experience it.

So here are a few of my takeaways from week 1.

The Biggest Differences:

1. Organization. The new school is so well organized (or at least it seems that way for now) probably out of necessity since we have over a thousand students. The office ladies know their stuff, and the place feels like a well oiled machine. First week was insane because I didn’t have most of the materials I wanted because the school hired nearly a dozen brand new staff members, but that wasn’t the office’s fault.
2. Information. There is so much information all the time coming from every which direction. I constantly am receiving new emails and chats from teachers and administrators alike, either trying to help me with something or keeping the school on the same page. This was probably the most overwhelming part because it felt like every time I learn something new, there’s two more things on the list to learn next. Thankfully, it’s all nicely organized in a big Google Drive Folder, but still, it’s a lot.
3. Curriculum. At my previous school, we had a single curriculum, and I was basically my own department, so I had a lot of options. This was a double-edged sword because while I had endless freedom, everything was also my responsibility. At the new school, we have 3 different curriculums that we’re pulling from and a three teachers to coordinate with to teach the same content. We do actually have more freedom than I was afraid of, but the process couldn’t be more divergent.

The Biggest Similarities:

1. Staff. Though it has something like 70+ more employees than my previous school, the camaraderie is very much alive. I miss my old staff because we were good friends and went wine-tasting on the weekends, but the people in my current department are just as equally helpful and patient. And during Professional Development, all the teachers still just want to be back in their classrooms prepping. I consider myself lucky that both schools I’ve experienced have had such incredible staff.
2. Kids. I used to think that I only wanted to teach High School because the students were so much better. That’s not true, and surprisingly, they really aren’t as different from each other as I expected. They all still believe I’m silly, uncool, and need a better fashion sense. But humans of all ages respond similarly to patience and kindness, so I can already see that this is going to be a good year.

My Classroom:

With all these changes, it’s taking some time to get my legs under me. I still have more plans for the classroom, but it is taking shape. And I’m truly excited to see where this year takes me.