I can't believe I found this thread!! :eek: Since I created this thread, I'll be going into my 3rd year of teaching. This will be a tough year for me as my choir goes into competition for the first time. Keep me in your prayers, sorors (and sisterfriends, too ... I need all the prayer I can get). :p

Congratulations on beginning your third year as a teacher. Good luck with the competitions. Now that you are three years in, are there any words of advice that you would offer new teachers? Any lessons that you have learned?

Actually, I'm still learning, soror. Each year is very different from the one before it. Heck, each CLASS is different from the one before it. :D There is more responsibility as a teacher than any other job I've ever had. Fortunately, as the choral director, I'm one of the elective teachers that all the students love. They feel like it gives them a break from all their other core studies. But despite that, the fact that I'm a teacher at all forces me to wear many hats that can be quite overwhelming at times. I'm teacher, counselor, cashier, referee, parent/guardian, and janitor all rolled into one. And when you have a performance choir that consists of more than 60 students, that can prove to be a daunting task (not to mention all the other classes I'm teaching as well).

I have learned to continue to be patient, though. Teaching ANYthing can be a stressful job. Thank God I have managed to maintain a cool personality, making it not as stressful as it COULD be. :cool: Thanks for asking, soror.

Congrats, Soror on starting your 3rd year as a teacher. It takes a special person to be a teacher. :) I will keep you in prayer.

So after your third year, will you be career? I ask because here in my state after three years you are considered career.

Ahhh, thanks, soror! It has it's ups and downs, but I try to focus on the ups.

Ya know, that's a good question, because I've tried to leave every single year, but couldn't. I think it has something to do with being in such an important position knowing that I'm changing lives on a hourly and daily basis.

There are higher ranking positions within the school district that require a minimum of three years of classroom teaching before being considered, and then there are others that require a minimum of five. So, I guess it all depends on the position I plan to consider in the future. But I might as well be considered 'career', as I don't know very many people who would be willing to sustain a job like this for even THIS long. :cool: