Coming to Terms with my Profession

I'm most nervous about managing my classroom and handling discipline issues. I worked as a camp counselor for the past two summers and still felt like I never quite got the hang of operating as an authority figure. How am I to step right into this role on my first day of teaching?

I'm also nervous about making lesson plans and following curriculum guidelines. What if my love of creative writing and desire to infuse the curriculum with it runs parallel to my district's need and desire to work on language fundamentals in order to improve standardized test scores? How do I navigate teaching the areas of English I love teaching with the areas of English the school district requires me to teach? When is it "my" classroom and when does it "belong" to the school district?

In that same vein, I'm also not sure how to trust my gut when I'm teaching. When do I move on quickly? When do I spend more time? How do I follow a schedule but also be sure to reach every student? When do I follow my lesson plan and when do I improvise?

I'm most ready to meet the students. I can't wait to get to know them as people and see how they bring their personalities into the classroom.

I also think I feel prepared to stay "energized" all day---I think I'm a fairly upbeat person and I think this trait will help me not get fatigued if I may teach the same middle school lesson several times in one day. The idea of finding a way to make it interesting period after period excites me.