After working at a small, private, Catholic, elementary and middle
school for three years, I am starting in September at one of the five
public middle schools in my city! I am super excited as I have been
trying to get my foot in the door for years, and am really thankful
for this opportunity to keep growing as a teacher.
I will be transitioning from about 250 kids, grades 2-8, to upwards of
600 middle school aged kids. I'm nervous to say the least. I know I
have been hired because I (appear to) know what I am doing, but with
no curriculum in place to follow, just the MA state frameworks as
guidelines (which I've basically taught to in the past) I have to
start from scratch again and I'm a little overwhelmed. Aside from an
introductory name design or mandala, I need to start organizing some
units and/or lessons and nail down what supplies I have to work with.
Does anyone have any advice for organizing a middle school curriculum?
What materials (and brands) are a must have for a successful program?
More over, does anyone have any advice for a first year, part time,
middle school art teacher (whose going back to school part time
herself)?
