GREEEEEN!

I wrote this last Tuesday- 2 days before my students arrived- and am just now remembering/finding time to post it. I'll try to write again soon about my first couple days, but I'm kind of swamped with planning, so we'll see if I get to it......

Today was my first official day on the job. So I decided to put in 12 hours for good measure. This was in no way planned, as I would have been comfortable with working a nice, light 8-hr. shift to ease into things, but a look around my classroom mid-afternoon told me leaving wasn’t really an option.

I should begin by explaining that today was the first real day I was allowed to touch anything in my classroom. My principal had a brief meeting on Friday with all of the new teachers at the school, and we got to see our rooms. But today was the first chance we had to roll up our sleeves and actually start setting them up. Today is Tuesday. The students arrive on Thursday. That’s not a lot of time to get set up and ready to go.

I arrived at school around 7:15 am. We were told to report at 8, but I knew my room was in rough shape, so I wanted to get a jump on it. As I entered the building, I cringed a bit as I remembered that my school is on the 5th floor. No elevator. Panting and sweaty, I was finally roaming the halls of my new second home. An exhilarating mix of excitement, anxiety, and cluelessness afforded me a speedy recovery from the climb. After saying hello to some of the other new teachers that I’d met on Friday, I headed for my room.

Worse than I’d remembered it looking. Stacks upon stacks of dirty, broken furniture stood before me, balancing precariously against one another. Multiple incomplete sets of wobbly chairs, tables with only three legs, and computerless computer workstations waited for me to make some sense of them and put them to good use. I did what most stupid first years would. I stared at it for a while. Then I moved some pieces around without a plan or vision of any kind. Then I slammed my fingers between a few stacked metal chairs and cursed my own thoughtlessness. Then I asked for help. Fortunately, one of the other new teachers (also ELA and social studies- but 8th gr. i/o 7th) at my school has been teaching in the Bronx for 7 years. I ask her way too many questions, and she’s probably sick of me already, but I fetched her for some input. She rattled off a list of feasible options, throwing in the pros and cons of each arrangement, and I chose the one I liked best. I love how straightforward this woman is. She’s extremely knowledgeable, blunt, but still sufficiently personable, and best of all- she’s not jaded or negative. I’ve found it very, very difficult to come by Title I public school teachers who have been at it for more than 1-2 years that aren’t overwhelmingly negative. So even if she doesn’t smile much while effortlessly spewing out great advice, and even if she thinks I ask stupid questions, I love her. She has already made my life there easier.

Once I got the table/desk situation squared away, I attempted to conquer the mess of trash and old books my predecessor so considerately left behind. My desk was filled with her old files, worn out shoes, and – my favorite- dirty dishes and silverware. Because she was a Spanish teacher, she also left a 6 ft tall shelf full of Spanish books behind. Very useful to me. Nevermind that teachers are supposed to box up their books and clean out their shelves before leaving. Just leave it for the new kid. She’ll enjoy sorting through your old crap. Grrr….. In addition to all of the Spanish books, an entire wall full of shelves- which are supposed to house my classroom library for my ELA classes- are filled with old novels. As is every nook, cranny, and closet in the entire room. More grrr…

Anyway, this is getting lengthy, so I’ll move things right along…. Basically, my room looked hellish when I arrived this morning, but 12 hours of back-aching furniture flipping and box-lifting has put a sizable dent in the feat. I even have a couple bulletin boards and posters up, and I’m starting to love my classroom. No, seriously. I’m really proud of it. :)

I also really like the new teachers. There are four of us- plus a new counselor. They have all been great to talk to, and we’ve all shared similar sentiments about wanting to make this an incredible year, wanting to really support each other, etc etc. In short, we are all very green. Even those coming in with a lot of experience under their belts are testing unknown waters. We all sound (and are) very optimistic and energized about the upcoming school year. The returning teachers do not seem to share this optimism or excitement. I’m too tired to really get into it, but squabbles over who “took” MY file cabinet that I’ve been waiting 2 years for, or who’s going to be pissed about which new kid getting which nicer classroom have led me to believe that they’re feeling rather wary of us newcomers. What they don’t seem to understand is that our rooms were assigned to us, and we used whatever furniture was thrown our way. If I had to guess, I’d say they’re uncomfortable with the ratio. We’re a very small school with a very small staff, so there are 5 (?) returning teachers and 4 newbies. Half their friends are gone.

Uffta. I’m exhausted. I have to end it here. Goodnight friends. Onto day 2. :)