The Pentons

Many of you may know but after five years of enduring tests, homework, and some really lame teachers I have finaly moved on in life, away from college and into the real world. To help with my transition into "the real world" I have been searching for a job for the past month. I initially signed a contract with the Granite school district in Salt Lake mainly becuase its close to home, offers good insurance and there are a lot of schools in which I could apply at to get a job. I interviewed at several schools and have finally accepted a job as a first grade teacher at Bennion Elementary. There are a couple of reasons why I'm really excited about this job and a couple of reasons why its kinda lame. The good things first: 1. I love first graders they are so funny sometimes, I feel like I really connect with them 2. The school is really nice, it is ranked as one of the top ten schools in the granite school district for test scores, the principal really works with his teachers and pretty much gives them anything they need. There is some diversity but not so much that it makes my job overly difficult. 3. The first grade teachers I'll be working with team teach-- that means that we ability group the kids for reading and math. One teacher will take the kids in the high reading group, one teacher will take the kids in the middle reading group and another teacher will take the kids in the low reading group. This makes my job really nice becuase I don't have to cater my instruction to many different levels. Now for the bad things about this job 1. Bennion Elementary is in Taylorsville that makes my commute an estimated 25 minutes right through the middle of a construction project. 2. I'm a little nervous on how to handle 27 first graders at the beginning of the year when they are used to 1/2 day kindergarten--I'm imagining my classroom will be a mad house for the first couple of months.

Obviously the good outweighs the bad, and that's why I chose this position. I start mid-August so stay tuned for updates!