Current mood:

good

My first week at work
So, this week was definitely a roller coaster ride of emotions.... I guess Tuesday was mostly just being overwhelmed. I wasn't really sure what I was doing. I didn't know anyone. I didn't know where to go. My room got changed multiple times. But, it ended up ok. I did end up getting a room, but it turns out that it gets extremely hot in the afternoon. So, on Wednesday I got kind of upset. I like the school, but it's not very "user-friendly". The thing that really set me off was when I went to my new teacher meeting and they were telling us all this stuff about what we would be doing this year like we had everything we needed already. We didn't get any handouts or a sheet of dates or anything. It's just very frustrating for me having someone talk to me like I already know what is going on, when I really don't have any idea about what is going on. Plus, it was just really hot in my room and I just kind of lost it. So, after my break down and taking it out on Chip (sorry honey!!), I felt a lot better about the job and what I was going to be doing at this school. So, yesterday was a much better day. And, I found out that I might be able to get a different room for the afternoon, but I'm going to stay in the same room and see how it goes for a week and then decide. It might be worth it, it gets very hot. Today we had some speakers to help motivate us. It was ok. The food was really good, but we had Stedman Graham (Oprah's boyfriend) come and speak. It felt kind of like he was preaching to the choir. He talked about how to have a vision, but it was almost like he had tweeked a talk for high schoolers for us. So, not the greatest speaker. We had a storyteller talk this afternoon, which was better, but still kind of useless, especially considering how much I still need to do. I'll be going in tomorrow to do some more work and then I'm going to have lunch with one of the other math teachers. Hopefully, I will be able to get some stuff done.

A little about the school and what I will be doing....I'll be teaching 2 classes of Algebra I and one class of a unified geometry/algebra class. The 2nd class is for seniors who need a 3rd math to graduate or juniors that aren't ready for Intermediate Math (I think that's like Algebra 2). The school is 60% hispanic, 30% African American, 5% white, and 5% other. It is a very poor school, everyone in the school is eligible for free lunch. I don't think very many of the parents are involved in what's happening. One of the teachers said that only 6 parents showed up for all 3 classes at Open House. We're on a 4x4 block, so that's why I'll be teaching 3 classes. The mascot is the Cardinal and the colors are red and white (how convenient). It's a neighborhood school. All the kids walk or ride the city bus to school. The teachers really do care about the kids and teaching. I feel like I can actually make a difference in a student's life there. All of the petty things that I and everyone else complained about at Lufkin seem so insignificant now. There is so much more important work to be done here than the things that Lufkin had to deal with. The school is in it's 4th year of not meeting AYP (based on No Child Left Behind) and if they don't make it again this year, the state may have the option of closing the school. The school has more criteria (subgroups of students) to meet than any other school in the district, but it's AYP went up 29 points this year which was more than any other school.

So, I think the bottom line is that the teachers work really hard and they're doing good work and the school is progressing, but there is a lot of work to be done. On a sidenote, I am kind of excited about being involved in all of the high school events (Homecoming, Prom, Graduation, High School Football). I guess that's about it for now. I will write more next week after I meet the kids!!

By the way, Chip gets in on Sunday!! YEH!!