I currently teach at a public middle school (HMS) in north Glendale. At the moment I have some social studies classes (7th grade) and language arts (8th grade), all gen.ed. This is my 6th (!) year at HMS, and I enjoy the colleagues and students with whom I work (well, most students). The student population for HMS is mostly Caucasian and middle to upper class. Before HMS, and coming to Arizona, I taught for 2 years at a high school in Santa Clarita, CA (11th and 12th grade social studies). Back then, I thought middle school teachers were crazy... until I became one.
My attitude towards teaching is mixed right now- I am frustrated on a daily basis with the overwhelming demands of my job (time and emotional energy) and with the politics that hurt public schools (unions and tenure, student and teacher assessment, etc). However, there are also enjoyable moments each day and I love those moments in the classroom when everything just clicks.
My goals for teaching, in the long run, are to move into Christian education or homeschool education (I was homeschooled, and loved it) where I can incorporate more of a holistic worldview into content (particularly in social studies). I would also love to be at home more with my daughter and be her teacher, but we'll have to see what the future holds for our family in that respect.
