School's back in!
School is back in session and I am busier than ever. It is strange how much longer I willingly stay at school now that I have a room and therefore somewhere comfortable and practical to do my work. I don't think I have been home before 5:00 one day this week, including holiday Monday when I went in to get some work done. The really strange thing is that in walking into my room, you wouldn't be able to tell I have spent so much time working there...I have only one poster on the wall, no bulletin boards, and 150 student collages in a messy pile on my desk waiting for me to grow 3 feet to put them up on the wall at the back of the class. (OK so that isn't going to happen...I am hoping some student will take pity on me and come do it...I already suckered in one girl to make me a bulletin board. :)
My classes are great right now. I have had no real bozos to deal with yet...but then again, you can never tell in the first month of school...also known as the "honeymoon" stage. I am so happy that Thursday was the final day to add/drop classes as I would lose one gain two just about every period. Thursday they also dropped all the no shows so that now my biggest class is 31 and my smallest 26 (26 is super small in my experience here...I am thrilled).
My room is referred to as "the dungeon". Not by anything I have done (yet anyway...) but just from its odd placement with no outside door/window and two teachers ago was a teacher who supposedly had no control over her class. (Actually, that must be somewhat true as they eventually fired her last year and it is not easy to fire a teacher as you have to go through a million union steps) Being in the dungeon has quite a few perks, there are few teachers around to keep you after school late when you don't want to or can't. I get work done at lunch since the cafeteria is clear on the other side of the school and would take 5 minutes to get there and 5 minutes back and then if I wanted to BUY lunch, another 15 minutes in line leaving me a whopping 5 minutes to scarf down my food. So, I eat in my classroom. This also means I have gotten to know about 4 students who usually eat in my room with me, students I likely would not have gotten to know as closely if we didn't spend this time together. On the other hand, the dungeon also means I don't have daily contact with former students who I enjoy catching up with from time to time.
This brings me to Friday after school. I got a call from Jan, the other Spanish teacher, that one of my students was asking if I was no longer at the school since she hadn't seen me at all. Jan sent her down. Nothing brings me greater joy (at this point in my life at least...with no kids), than to have a former student willingly seek me out to visit. It was very touching. She wanted to tell me all about her summer and her trip to Florida. We talked for at least 20 minutes before the counselor came in to speak to me privately about another student. It was great! This is why I like teaching...to actually connect with a few kids. I see 150 kids a day and per year, I will likely only truly connect with maybe 10 or so...and of those, only maybe 1 or 2 will make an effort to continue that relationship once they leave my class...but it is for that, that teaching is truly rewarding. (and for that reason only, that I muddle through all the other crap like professional certification, no paid maternity leave, hundreds of unpaid hours, the occassional extremely rude and beligerent parent, etc...)
So, thus ends my first 6 days of the 2004-2005 school year.
My classes are great right now. I have had no real bozos to deal with yet...but then again, you can never tell in the first month of school...also known as the "honeymoon" stage. I am so happy that Thursday was the final day to add/drop classes as I would lose one gain two just about every period. Thursday they also dropped all the no shows so that now my biggest class is 31 and my smallest 26 (26 is super small in my experience here...I am thrilled).
My room is referred to as "the dungeon". Not by anything I have done (yet anyway...) but just from its odd placement with no outside door/window and two teachers ago was a teacher who supposedly had no control over her class. (Actually, that must be somewhat true as they eventually fired her last year and it is not easy to fire a teacher as you have to go through a million union steps) Being in the dungeon has quite a few perks, there are few teachers around to keep you after school late when you don't want to or can't. I get work done at lunch since the cafeteria is clear on the other side of the school and would take 5 minutes to get there and 5 minutes back and then if I wanted to BUY lunch, another 15 minutes in line leaving me a whopping 5 minutes to scarf down my food. So, I eat in my classroom. This also means I have gotten to know about 4 students who usually eat in my room with me, students I likely would not have gotten to know as closely if we didn't spend this time together. On the other hand, the dungeon also means I don't have daily contact with former students who I enjoy catching up with from time to time.
This brings me to Friday after school. I got a call from Jan, the other Spanish teacher, that one of my students was asking if I was no longer at the school since she hadn't seen me at all. Jan sent her down. Nothing brings me greater joy (at this point in my life at least...with no kids), than to have a former student willingly seek me out to visit. It was very touching. She wanted to tell me all about her summer and her trip to Florida. We talked for at least 20 minutes before the counselor came in to speak to me privately about another student. It was great! This is why I like teaching...to actually connect with a few kids. I see 150 kids a day and per year, I will likely only truly connect with maybe 10 or so...and of those, only maybe 1 or 2 will make an effort to continue that relationship once they leave my class...but it is for that, that teaching is truly rewarding. (and for that reason only, that I muddle through all the other crap like professional certification, no paid maternity leave, hundreds of unpaid hours, the occassional extremely rude and beligerent parent, etc...)
So, thus ends my first 6 days of the 2004-2005 school year.
posted by Katrina | 9/11/2004 10:24:00 AM
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