Flight attendants, prepare for takeoff

I only haven't written because I've been working non-stop. Everything's going really well. This week we are still on the tarmac - doing assessments, learning routines, assigning jobs, going over the rules, setting goals. I am waiting for liftoff. 

I will let you know when we have reached our cruising altitude. 

Start yer engines

The first day has come and gone.  I prepared endlessly, it feels, and ultimately it paid off. One of the girls (quite honestly, I'm not sure which one because it takes a little time to distinguish between and among them) piped up on our way out the door (only 5 minutes late, and with none of the important papers and memos left behind, which is actually quite good for the first day...). She said "When I get home my mom is going to ask how was school and I'm going to say wonderful!" Which is a bit amusing given that it feels like all we did today was peel and stick name labels onto a million different notebooks and workbooks and folders...

But she's probably reacting to that same, hopeful anything-can-happen feeling the teachers get around this time of year, too.  It's the one that popped me out of bed on several Saturday mornings before school started and had me analyzing the teacher's guide fpr math and creating a Student Math Goal Grid and a break-down of the Test Prep book according to skill... sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Anyway, everything went very smoothly, and I'm happy to report I am fully prepared for tomorrow and actually looking forward to it, in accordance with my personal goals for this year.

Also, another analogy for teaching dawned on me today as a trudged through the dampness of the day to the subway:  Teaching is a 7-hour one-man show performed for 180 days in a row. Each show must be unique, enriching, and tailored to each of the audience members individually. The teacher is not only the actor, but also the writer, director, producer, usher, tech crew and props department.

As I told Shorty this evening, 10 months of being tired begins now.

I have to say, it has been so amazing to have Shorty here backing me up -- making me lunches, procuring dinners, doing laundry, giving me back massages, making sure I get to bed and wake up on time and take my medicine... It's like having my own pit crew in between performances. I'm like an acrobat realizing how much better it is to have a safety net, when all this time I was going without!

Bull-head grab punch, and Dalton

I have been wearing the bull head earrings I bought at a rodeo in Montana this summer as a reminder to grab this year by the horns, or, as I've been saying with my frolleagues (friends + colleagues, get it?!), I'm going to punch this year in the face! In a good way... like, you know, huge impact...

Nothing earth-shattering at the meeting. The part where they talked about the new tenure policy made my stomach hurt. The best part was when Principal P. heroically squashed a killer cockroach that scuttled by, as his usually stoic harem of Assistant Principals squealed and twitched in anguish!  Also, they played a video, which I would like to share with you, of an adorable kid named Dalton who will get any educator at least a little pumped up for the coming school year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAMLOnSNwzA

So one more day until the kids arrive.  By 4:30pm today I was viscerally reminded of what it feels like to work a full day. Better get used to it, quick

teacher as interior decorator/systems analyst

Tomorrow will be my first official day on the job of the 11-12 school year.  There is a breakfast, followed by a staff meeting, then time for scheduling, beginning of year paper work, planning, and finishing up preparing our rooms.

I would venture to say that only those who have helmed their own classrooms can truly understand just how much thought goes into their arrangement. If you're picturing several straight rows of desks and a  blackboard with a piece of chalk, and maybe a pull-down map on the wall, you are picturing a very different era.

In elementary school these days (at least in mine), lessons happen with kids sitting cross-legged in the meeting area on the rug -- and given that some of the fifth graders will be about as big as I am, fitting them all into said area is no small feat.  Then there is the placement of the Smartboard so all kids can see it during a lesson, as well as the easel and the chair from which I teach. Then there are desk arrangements: "cooperative learning" requires kids to sit in groups or clusters, and I like to have a "focus desk" for kids who occasionally have trouble, well, focusing while learning cooperatively.  I also need a conferencing area for working with kids individually and in small groups. And, no matter where I am in the room, I have to be able to see all the kids at all times.

And that's just the furniture! From their desks, all the kids need to be able to see the word wall (for spelling), the math word wall for math vocabulary, the calendar, Flow of the Day, homework board and word of the day board, and all the different charts that will be hanging up reminding them of the various strategies they will be learning.  In addition,  kids also need to be able to access the fiction and non-fiction libraries ranging from reading levels L through X, the computers, science and social studies books, the writing center, art supplies, the sink, trash and recycling, the hermetically sealed varmint-proof lunch container, the coat closet, their mail boxes for the memos and reminders that are backapcked home, math tools, and they need space to line up when we go somewhere, and preferably not be tripping over each other when they move around the room...

So, essentially it's a 600-square foot logic puzzle. The only way to know for sure is to see it in action, but I think Sunny and I have finally cracked the code.

September arrives

One of my colleagues updated her facebook status that on September eve, her eye started twitching again.  Another colleague responded that she had started grinding her teeth again... and me, I've stopped sleeping through the night, though to be fair, I can't blame it totally on stress or anxiety because the throbbing pain from one of my wayward wisdom teeth that are slated to be removed could also be responsible.

The teachers have been bustling around at school readying our classrooms. Students arrive one week from today. Imagine one of those cartoon dust clouds, and out of it being flung bulletin board borders, colorful backing paper, and decorative die-cut shapes. If you don't know what those things are you've clearly never been to a teacher store, and depending on your taste for things that are totally adorable! or how jazzed you get if it matches my theme! you're either deprived or fortunate.

I can't say that bulletin board decor is one of my favorite parts of my job (not so for every elementary teacher - for some, it is truly an art.)  But I can say that I have developed some speed and skill over the years.  The trick is buying fadeless paper so that you don't have to do it again the following year, using a lot of staples and/or so it doesn't fall down mid-year, and picking a color scheme you can look at for 180 days straight without hating.  I have embraced classroom decorating this year and am going with a theme of nature, specifically trees.  And, in collaboration with Sunny, who has an identical room, and lots of trial and error throughout the last 2 years, I think we have finally discovered the ideal set-up for the classroom!

I'm actually in pretty good shape at the moment, owing partly to the fact that I put in quite a few hours organizing books and closet space at the end of last year.  Not having to change rooms or grades is a total lifesaver.

Even though we're not being reimbursed for any expenses this year, I've been saving receipts just in case, and also out of curiosity. So far the tally rounds out to about $300.

But now my classroom is $300 more kickass than it was last year!