Knowing my velocity

My New Job

As my devoted readers know, my job search last spring was full of ups and downs, almosts and backtracks. But I did indeed get a teaching job in one of the suburbs of Chicago. In fact, I got what appears so far to be the best job ever (as long as the students turn out to be as great as some of the students I had in Brainerd).

I got a job teaching in Chicago's most well-to-do suburb. The high school does in fact look like a country club:


The houses in this town are mansions like I have only ever seen on television. So at first I was a bit nervous about becoming a part of such a wealthy community, but all of my experiences at the high school have been nothing but excellent. The school is a top-notch public school with extraordinary resources, test scores, graduation rates, etc. The faculty is very friendly and helpful, the administration is supportive, and the whole atmosphere of the school is very laid back. I have incredible flexibility with what I teach, and I am excited about the courses I will be teaching this year.

I spent last week in new teacher orientation, which was an excellent few days. Normally, such meetings are tedious and useless, but I felt so welcomed in my new school. Then on Friday we had freshman orientation, so I met some of my new students (I have one freshman honors class), and that went very well, too.

So tomorrow is the first day of school. Though I am a little nervous, I feel so overwhelmingly positive about what is to come.

Some famous alumni of my new school:

Vince Vaughn

Andrew Bird


Dave Eggers

I will be posting a lot about my new job as I settle in, but my blog will also get back to some of the old features as well.