Sorry for the lack of entries. A week's worth of super long meetings didn't seem worthy of its own post.
Amidst the four-hour long meetings (filled with 45 minutes of statistics on last year's advisories,) was the transformation of my classroom. If you recall from my last post, it looked like the Language Arts storeroom, as opposed to an actual classroom. This all changed when the self-proclaimed "Head of the English Department" came by my room to ask some questions and was overwhelmed, much like I was, by the vast amount of books littering the desks. She quickly determined which books I could immediately toss and even proceeded to get several custodians to take the books away, presumably to be recycled and/or burned. The custodians wound up taking three(!) carts* of books out of my classroom. In hindsight, I should have kept the books to build a sweet fort, however, my room suddenly seemed spacious and clean. Though still not the classroom of my dreams, it was a start. I really wish I would've taken "before" and "after" pictures to truly get my point across.
I was so distracted and distraught by the mountains of books that I didn't even realize that I didn't have the standard desktop computer until after my room was cleared. It was worth the wait, though, since I was given a newer model than a majority of my colleagues. :)
Speaking of colleagues, I'm really liking all of them. They're all amazingly nice: several have offered to deal with any problem students that I may encounter,** another made copies for my advisory, and a group invited me for decompression meetings***. While I'm very appreciative of all these things, I'm more impressed that they are so patient while I learn their names. (I've mastered the English department and maybe 5 others.) I hope I start to fit in more, though. Everyone talks about former teachers, students, and other Small Town, USA residents. Smiling and nodding seem to get me by.
My boyfriend came down from Former City to see me on Thursday. He provided a much-needed break from Small Town banter, and I was able to talk about more familiar faces. (Hugs are pretty good, too.) To extend this vacation from Small Town gossip, I decided to visit Former City to pretend that I was a college kid for one last weekend. The warm welcome was nice, and it felt good to escape the real-world.****
Unfortunately, Small Town welcomed me with real-world tasks on Sunday. My yard seems so much smaller when I'm not mowing! In addition, I had to finalize my syllabi and go to bed early to prepare for Freshmen Transition Day. Luckily it went off without a hitch, and I think I even convinced some freshmen that I actually am a teacher.
More to come later this week!
*Double-decker, HUGE carts
** They don't know that I student taught at Urban High School and am more bad-ass than they think.
*** 5-minute meetings at the end of the hall after school
**** Although spending hundreds of dollars on grownup clothes, apartment necessities, and classroom decorations seems pretty "real-world" to me. (At least I got to shop with my mom!)
Love always,
E
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