New School Year

My classroom is a disaster.

No other explanation. Pre-planning has been completely filled with meetings. Mostly informative, I guess, so not a waste, but some of them had no real point, and this irritates me. I have too much to do to sit there while you argue over the end of the year celebrations.

We can wait until after the "Winter Holiday" break. At least.

Anyway, I have a total of one border stapled up on my bulletin board, no posters, one calendar hung, three clocks, all with differing times, and I have my desk area rearranged from last year and also from the way the technology specialist set it up... I didn't like it.

Not only that, but I am pretty (okay, extremely) computer savvy, so people who I have helped, generally people I know, ask me to help them with their computers and things.

Then they tell their friends, and they ask me for help, but I don't even know them.

I have a problem saying no.

So, I have been spending my time doing other teacher's rooms.

I am tired, I am not ready, and I am frustrated.

At least tomorrow is another day.

New School Year, New School Stuff

Just like last year, I am now doing my grocery shopping and eyeing the kids around me, wondering if they'll be my future students. I am poring over the pages of the teacher back-to-school catalogs that are being delivered with alarming (at least to my wallet) regularity.

But I placed two orders from two different catalogs, and I am so excited! I can't wait for the stuff to be delivered.

One of my new items:

This will be used when we're working on writing, and we'll eliminate an over-used word, and give other options we could use instead. (First to go will be fun, I think. Or cool).

Another fun thing I got is:

My school has a REALLY bad problem with dirty bathrooms, and I'm just not sure why. The janitors refuse to fill the soap dispensers, because the kids sometimes hold the soap open and allow it to pour onto the floor. I don't blame them for being annoyed, but we did not have any soap, in any bathroom, after Christmas.

This is unacceptable, and parents complained, and I'm not sure why the administration allowed it to continue. They talked about changing the soap in the boy's bathroom (since it never happened in the girl's bathroom, I'm not sure why they couldn't give them soap, plus how is it fair that only the boys would get cool, new, fancy soap when they're pigs?) to foam so they couldn't do that, but nothing was done.

But anyway, these 'passes' were on sale, and the kids take it with them to the bathroom, and then they'll have soap to wash their hands. I will make sure to never touch them, because I'm sure they don't all wash correctly, but it'll be good for the kids, I think.

And they were on sale for $.99! I got one for each of my team members. Hooray for soap!

Now, you know it's time to start back to school when teachers are celebrating soap.

I am still enjoying my time away from the kids, but I am getting a little antsy to meet my new students. I keep logging on to my attendance screen to see if I have any students in my classes yet.

(None yet, but I'll keep checking. And I do have classes scheduled! They're just empty still.)

Confusion...

Today, I am wondering about parents. And about what is honestly going through their minds as they're doing some of the things that drive teachers crazy.

I got a new student this week. It's the fourth week of school, and I just got a new student.


Getting a new student isn't unusual; just like in most schools (with the exception of small town-type schools), we have a relatively high turn over, and we get new students pretty regularly. We sometimes even get kids from other teams due to a schedule conflict or a personality conflict among kids or even among the teachers and the kids. However, this student was not a kid who had moved from another state, school district, team, or anything else like that.

No, this child just hadn't started school.

Apparently, they didn't know when school started. When asked why she was late starting to school, she told us that her parents had thought school started the day she came.

What?? How could you honestly not know when your child is supposed to start school? It's not like they just moved here; she's gone to school in our county since 2nd grade (I asked her).

It's not like our county is secretive. In fact, we have advertising campaigns about going back to school that costs big bucks to put on.

And even if you didn't know when your child was supposed to start school, wouldn't you call the school and find out? They should know the month of school starting, at least, since it hasn't changed in all the time she's going to school here, so at least 4 years.

Now she's really behind, because even though we haven't gotten into the full swing of things yet, the kids all know how to do all the things I expect of them, so she just feels awkward.

All the little lunch groups are formed. All the little cliques. All the little love-hate drama.

She has essentially been put at a disadvantage, which is just not fair of her parents. She's a sweet kid, and this makes me sad.

Why, parents... why??

It boggles the mind.

Surviving the First Day... Accomplished!

Well, we did it... or I did, at least. I made it through the first day. Hooray!

And I almost want to go back to school tomorrow!

Now, it was nothing like last year, with all the classes being unbalanced, and 47 in one class (with just 30 desks, so some kids had to sit on the floor).

Nor was it bad because of the schedules being messed up completely because of SMS. SMS is a computer program the county purchased to do all the clerical-type school tasks, like attendance, discipline (keeping track of referrals, detention, etc), gradebook, and scheduling. Instead of having to use different programs for each of these things, SMS was supposed to do it all. This way, you wouldn't have to enter the information multiple times.

Of course, with the millions that was spent on the program, it should work, right? They had tested it, used it in a few pilot schools, and everyone just sang it's praises...

It didn't work. At all.

If you used the gradebook portion, you would enter your grades, but it would lose them, or even change them completely. You could never trust the gradebook, so you had to keep multiple copies.

And the guidance counselors had attempted to use the automatic scheduler that the company had praised... and the class of 47 resulted.

But I digress.

It wasn't like it was last year today.

In face, I had tiny classes. My advanced class was large, but manageable. But one of my co-taught classes is so small it's unmanageable. In Language Arts, you need to have more than just a few students to get good discussions going. Just hearing from a few kids doesn't work as well.

PLUS this tiny class is co-taught! (It's for exceptional education kids (ESE), where they essentially have learning disabilities and need extra support to be successful, so there are two teachers in the room with them... the main teacher and an ESE teacher who just helps out in each class).

The number of kids in this class, you wonder? 6.

Yes, it will grow as they balance the classes. But still. 6!?

How did that get past the people making the schedules?

Oh, well. It is much better than 47, I will admit.

Another thing about last year was we had all of the thugs that were in 6th grade, with only a few minor exceptions. The other teams had some of them, but truly, we had almost all of them.

Today I was keeping my eye out for our new thugs, or kids to replace those type kids from last year. Granted, this was just the first day, and I do realize that. As we were waiting this morning to be dismissed to our first class, I couldn't even get them to talk at all (and I know that will change quickly). I know they'll loosen up and the misbehavior will start,

And I did spot some I know will cause problems. But overall, I am happy about the apparent quality of these kids.

I do think it is rather amazing how you can spot these kids right off. You know immediately the ones you'll have to keep an eye on. And then you talk to the other teachers on your team, and they marked the same ones...

Like the kid who had gum. TODAY. And she was wearing a tiny skirt, a tube top, and a tiny jacket. What mom would really let her out the door like that?

Or the kid who provided me with a sound effect the entire time I was talking.

Or even the little girl who rolled her eyes. At me. On the first day! Just because I mispronounced her name. I'm sorry, but her parents made up her name! How would I know how to pronounce her name, especially since it's not like they even followed the sounds you normally find in the English language!

And on that topic, this year I have the most amazingly crazy names. What's wrong with names like Mary, Elizabeth, Laura, Rachel, or those lovely names? I don't have a single one of those names! Not even one.

Oh, well. I guess parents want their kids to be more and more unique. Whatever.

Today, we had lots of things we were supposed to do (as teachers, like going over the dress code rules) with each period) and I did almost all of them... I did forget to walk my kids to lunch... but in my defense, our lunch period is at 2:11, and I had no chance to use the restroom, and I really needed to, so I wasn't really thinking properly.

So... after this first day, I am mostly excited about this year... it's still a little weird, since I don't know these kids, and I miss some of my darlings from last year, and a little tiring because it is stressful, but I see great things for this year.

Lots of great things. I hope.

Meet the Teacher 2007

Well, I have survived (barely) this year's Meet the Teacher. It wasn't as bad as my first year, where I was trapped. I was able to sit down for a few minutes a few times, and rest my feet, and I remembered to bring a drink this time, so I wasn't dying of thirst.

I think, though, with my classroom a little ways down the hall from the rest of my team, some parents didn't find me. Not complaining, though!

Of course, barely 2 hours after the parents left, I received my very first email of the year.

Wow. They don't waste time, do they?

I saw lots of my kids from last year, and it was very nice to see most of them. They are all excited and thrilled to see me.

Some of them look so old I can't even believe it. What happened in the two months since I saw them? Did they eat more because they were just at home? Or is it that amazing growth spurt that happens between 12 and 13?

Some of the bizarre/funny/notable things that happened today:

-A parent introduced their child to me, but gives me the wrong name. The kid then reintroduces himself.

-Parents arguing as they were talking to me. i.e. "You don't have to be so rude to me!" "Don't be stupid!" to each other, then asking about my curriculum.

-A child walked into my room and starting going through the stuff on my desk. Like, my personal stuff. Like picking up my keys and the phone.

-All kids and parents have gum. This is going to be a year we battle gum.

-Most of the little 6th grade girls were breaking dress code... little spaghetti straps, short skirts...

-One parent told me all about her child, and how he has an IEP, and on and on, and ON, and I finally asked who her child was, and she pointed him out. Then I asked about his schedule, so she showed me, and he wasn't even on my team!

-I have two siblings (that I met today) of kids I've had before. One of them did start to cry, though, because she didn't want to be on my team (not because of me, but she loves the other team's language arts teacher...) (At least, I hope her brother wasn't telling tales...)

It was a crazy day, it really was.

Something else I found highly amusing today was listening to one of the new teachers at my school describe his day. This is his first year teaching kids (he's taught college and stuff) and he wasn't sure what to expect. He's also from England, and has an accent (of course). The little 6th grade girls were almost melting, just listening to him talk. He said one of the girls who was going to be in his class just stared at him, then left and brought 2 friends, and then they all stared at him. Then they started giggling (if you've been around a middle grades girl, you'll know exactly what I mean by giggling.) When he asked them what they wanted, they just told him he talks "funny" and they want to hear him talk.

I said, well, at least you'll be sure the girls are listening to you when you give them directions.

It's an almost unfair advantage over the rest of us.

Back in the Classroom!

There is something so wonderful about getting back in your classroom. It's so peaceful and clean, and none of the junk that will be present as soon as the kids arrive. They're great, but they carry so much junk!

I got back in my room, and sat at my desk... and realized that I have a lot of work to do tomorrow. I had to move classrooms, which is a blessing and a curse, honestly.

I liked my old classroom... it was right near the teacher's bathroom, it was across the hall from the 6th grade office (where the administrator's office was, so the kids knew they had better behave in the hallway), and it was the first classroom as you entered the hallway. My new class is NOT near a bathroom (except for the kids bathroom... yuck), and it's at the end of the hallway.

But I wasn't near my team. They were in the other hallway.

So now I am with them, but I did have to pack EVERYTHING and move EVERYTHING at the end of the year, so now I honestly don't know where anything is. Including my trash can. How can you lose a trash can? It's not like losing my tape (which is also missing). It's much larger than that.

My gorgeous mini-fridge made it, though, as well as the lovely squishy chair I appropriated last year.

So... in short, a good start to the year. So far. It's funny... as you sit there, messing with your stuff, people keep coming in, and checking on you. I honestly think they want to see if you're doing a better job of getting your junk done than they are. So they can feel better about themselves.

So far, I have made everyone feel better about themselves.

Pre-Planning Week

Teacher pre-planning starts next week, and just like that, my summer is over. It's an exciting time, yes, but still rather sad when I think that it's over.

Pre-planning is really a strange time, at least in my experience.

My first year as a teacher, I was supposed to start the glorious fun of pre-planning just like all the other teachers at my school. I had attended the new teacher training (2 days long, mostly telling us of things that weren't helpful and more confusing than anything else, but I did get some free stuff, so that was good) and the pre-employment fingerprinting, background check, and drug-testing (I passed, if you were wondering :o). Now I was going to start at my school and learn all about how it works. Like the rules! How we felt about dress code! Even the school lunch menu!

I was supposed to.

But didn't.

I wasn't "cleared to be on campus yet." My background check wasn't complete yet. I was not allowed to be around the children. But there aren't any children there during pre-planning! But this bit of wisdom was apparently ignored by the school system. Yes, I did pass it; everything was fine.

But the paperwork wasn't filed on time or with the right people, so I wasn't allowed to be there on the day when they have the dumb-but-ever-so-helpful getting to know one another games and information.

Now, I could understand if it was because I was a new hire, one of the people hired right as the kids arrive.

But I had been hired June 24th. Plenty of time.

So I missed that first day, and missed out on lots of important things AND free stuff (like a mug with the school logo and a desk calendar. AND LUNCH).

I was sad.

Last year, I opened at a new school, so our pre-planning lasted 2 weeks. It was a nice, but crazy, time.

We have a good, wonderful, supportive principal.... who just so happens to also be "cutesy." She likes having themes at our meetings and for the entire week of pre-planning.

Last year, we had a lot of games where we had to walk as a team (feet tied to a bit of canvas), untie each of our team members (as we were all tangled), design a perfect school, etc, etc, etc.

It's fun, but silly. It's nice to see everyone again, and it's a WONDERFUL chance to hear what's going on, what new paperwork we have to complete, what new laws affect us, and so on.

I am looking forward to it... but I have to go and think about what to wear. We have to dress within our theme, and it was rumored that we'd be rewarded for our efforts, so I want to win.

I have as much chance as the next person, right?

Wrong. I will likely completely forget and just wear my school shirt. Oh, well. I probably wouldn't like the prize anyway.

Or so I'll keep on telling myself.

Signs of the Time

There are always signs that appear to warn teachers that summer is coming to an end. Some we look for are meet with anticipation, but others just cause us to sigh and try to adjust our summer sleep schedules to make sure we can get up early again.

Here are some signs to look for as a sure way to know that the new school year is coming...

• Parents you see in public places are looking really frazzled.
• Their kids look rested and full of energy and mischief.
• Stores stock massive amounts of pencils, paper, glue sticks, and markers. Massive and scary amounts.
• Those same stores place those massive stocks directly in the aisles so you cannot possibly miss them.
• Some stores, however, after placing the items directly in the aisles still place cute little "foot prints" and signs on the ground so you can follow them to the supplies.
• You still hear parents asking where the school supplies are.
• You pay your bills and notice you have lesson than you expected to have, and work sums in your head to see if you'll make it (you should, as long as you've planned well, but still...)
• You start getting more emails at your school email address, with "updates" from administration.
• You get a letter at home from your principal reminding you that they expect to see you bright and early on the first day of pre-planning. Don't forget to bring your winning attitudes and good ideas.
• You also start getting emails from the parents of your students from the previous year, asking you to "use your influence" to get their child placed on a good team. (I think to myself, what influence?)
• The school supply areas in stores begin to get mobbed, by large amounts of bickering children and parents, all trying to "just get what we need!"
• You notice that everything school-related is once again tax-free for a limited time.
• Every place, everywhere you go has "Back to School" specials, even when they have nothing to do with school. At all. Even at a stretch.
• Teachers start trying to get into their classroom so they can get ready (it's hard to do it in only 2 days allotted in pre-planning!). This is tricky, as administration doesn't want to spend their day opening the door for teachers. (I have found some hiding in strange places, hoping you can't find them.)
• You wake up in the morning, thinking of the perfect way to drive a point home on a lesson you taught last year, and wishing you had thought of it at the time.
• You know you will never remember that point when you're teaching the same concept again.

And all these signs tell me school is coming swiftly.

Yay?

Teacher Stores, or Teacher's Heaven

One of the most exciting parts of getting ready for the new school year is getting new school supplies. These can be as simple as a new pack of pens (I have scary numbers of pens, but I love getting new ones) or as wonderful as a new teacher resource book.

Something that does make shopping for school difficult is the fact there wasn't a school store anywhere close to me. The closest one was about 45 minutes away.

Until recently, that is.

They opened up a brand new (albeit small) teacher store within 10 minutes of my house. There is almost no way to describe how excited I was when I saw the sign and figured out what it said for the first time.

I had to wait for them to open, then I had to wait for me to be able to get myself over there.

Today, I finally made it!

I walked in and was immediately met with bright colors and cheerful items designed to get children to read. Then I saw math manipulatives (the one reason I am sad I don't teach math... I love to play with the math stuff), and posters, and teacher stamps, and books, and borders, and and and!

I love pretty new things. It makes me eager to get into my classroom, set up the stuff, and meet the new children. A good thing, I think.

So, I bought 2 posters, a new lesson plan book, a pack of pre-cut letters (in a delightful stained glass pattern), and a handwriting book.

One of the posters that I bought was a very cute one I have been looking for, which says, "Save the drama for your llama" and the llama is saying "I don't want to hear it either" with a grouchy look. It's perfect for 6th grade drama.

Now I just have to get my classroom keys, haul all the stuff I brought home back to school (along with all the new stuff I bought), and wait for the kids.

I can't wait.

Meet the Teacher

My first year as a teacher coincided with the first year my county celebrated something they called "The First Days of School." Part of this celebration is called "Meet Your Teacher." Essentially, it's a chance to go the week before school, meet your teachers, pick up your schedule, pay for lunches, buy fitness uniforms, etc.

While this is a great idea, it stinks.

As a teacher going into the start of school, you now have to have your classroom ready to go, or at the very least, presentable, several days sooner.

But the worst of it was, my first year teaching, the parents come in and see me (and I frankly have an ageless face, which means I could be 18 or 30, but concerned parents immediately decide I am way too young for this), and start asking the tough questions. Like, "What does my child need for the entire year for your class?"

I thought to myself, I don't even know what your child will need next week... so you're outta luck for the entire year...

Then the scariest part was I was by my desk when the first parent shoved their child at me (the really did shove their little darlings at me... the first time it was funny, but soon nothing was funny) After that first parent and kid combo came, there was no let up... for 2... whole... hours. And I was trapped by my desk... there were so many parents wanting to meet me they were lined up out the door and down the stairs to my portable. When one parent took too much of my time, the other parents started grumbling. I just knew I was going to be killed by a parent brawl.

The only thing that saved me was the principal coming on the announcements, as promised, and telling the parents that while we are glad they came, the teachers need to eat, so they will now be locking their doors.

I was so exhausted and overwhelmed I just slid to the floor after locking my door and thought to myself, I am NOT supposed to be a teacher. I can't even answer simple questions!

Thankfully enough, my father had stopped by earlier and was basically encouraging, and my best friend stopped by to see how I had fared and ask when I could leave, because she wanted to go out to lunch. She had to knock a few times, because I didn't want to get off the floor and I didn't want to talk to another parent.

She plied me with liquids (talking for two straight hours had made me desperately thirsty) and bundled me off to lunch, where she told me I'd be fine, and stop whining.

She was right, but it was still overwhelming.

My second year went better, as I had answers and I knew better than to put myself somewhere I didn't want to spend 2 hours trapped.

I sat on the corner of my desk when standing became too much, which made me much happier, and I had a water bottle within arms reach.

This year I know I will be completely fine. I like meeting my new students, and it's fun to guess the personality of each... plus, I get a preview of which parents will be "difficult" and which will be "wonderful."

After all, they will be the ones who will feature most prominently in this blog. They make school interesting, and worthwhile.

Getting Ready for School, the Teacher's Version

I know parents everywhere look forward to the start of school, but also dread it, knowing they will have to convince their children they do not need a lunchbox for every day of the week, and they don't have to have the $6 pen when the $.50 pen will do the same thing. (Knowing they'll lose it regardless of the cost).

Trust me, I understand your pain.

However, teachers get to do the same thing, but instead of getting one or two children ready for school, we have to get ready for tons of kids. As a middle school teacher, I will have somewhere between 110-165 kids, depending on what school and where it is located.

What many people don't know about teacher is all that stuff that makes our classroom so pretty when you visit on "Meet the Teacher" day, all the posters, all the books, all the everythings are the teacher's personal property. We bought and paid for it, with our own money.

Some things the school does provide. I have all the furniture provided (except I received one bookcase and I need about 5), all the textbooks the students use, and the technology to make my lessons interactive and engaging. Some schools provide some supplies... generally, at the beginning of the year, you get one pack of dry erase markers, a couple packs of paper, and 4 boxes of tissues... yes, a few more things, but 90% of it will be gone before "winter break."

Still, I bought the teacher resource books. I bought all of my classroom library books, all 1,000+. I bought all of the posters, and if you think those are cheap, a teacher's poster costs around $5 each, plus laminating, which can be up to $9 each poster.

Add all this to the fact we as teachers do not get paid during the summer, and you have yourself a big problem.

I know people everywhere are saying, "Teachers have it easy! They get two months vacation!" Well, yes. But we don't get paid during that time, so right about now, with school starting in a couple of weeks, we are really starting to feel the pinch of not seeing a paycheck since May. And I even have my pay deferred all year, so I get money at the start of summer to live through the summer.

But still. Knowing I start work on August 13th but won't see a paycheck until September 5th makes me nervous.

Still... I am very excited when I see kids in the store as I shop... I judge their age and then wonder if they'll be in my class.

And if they are, will they be one of my angels... or one of my knuckleheads.