Snapshots

Surprise surprise - I should be doing some sort of work (in all fairness, I tried to set up my website but I couldn't log in - that is NOT a surprise), but here we are again. Blogging. I regret nothing.

My first two days of instruction I didn't have posted rules and part way through my most difficult class, I realized I would have to change my lesson because a couple of students had to leave early to catch a special bus and I really wanted them to be there for my growth mindset lesson. In lay person terms - posted rules and explicit instruction about said rules is very common to include during the first day of class. I did nothing that I normally do on the first day and I didn't hate it, but I felt a little naked. Teaching and posting expectations is like your defense. It's your safety net, your structure, your back up, your everything. I didn't create my rules because I needed to meet my population. I was dealing with a new demographic and I had to feel it out. After the first round of A/B classes, I felt like I knew what I was getting into. I didn't have a black hole in my vision of what this school year would be like regarding my students. I finally had a small sliver of first impressions and that could get me through the beginning phase of being a new teacher.

In hopes of creating a mental picture, these are some snap shots of my first day(s) at my high school in an inner city:

There is no central air conditioning. Classrooms have window units and most of them work. If yours doesn't work, you are pretty much forced to find another classroom because the sweltering heat is not conducive to any type of learning. Fortunately, my window unit has worked just fine. Along those same lines, it can be hard to hear kids because the window unit is blasting all the time.
The hallway, stairways, and bathrooms are truly warm and muggy, but the staff bathroom feels like the heat is turned on high. I will be in the bathroom (which is located on the 4th floor - I am on the 2nd floor) for less than 5 minutes and will leave with a fine sheen of sweat all over my body and particularly my forehead and upper lip.

My class sizes are just right: 6-9 students. I was shocked (and nervous) to discover that I would be teaching every grade. I thought I was just getting grades 9/10. For some reason, that was comforting to me. I have taught middle school and those grades seemed closer to my comfort zone. My
Pre-Algebra class has mixed 9/10 graders (mostly 9th graders) and my Geometry classes have 11/12 graders (mostly 11th graders). With the exception of a couple of sassy upper classmen, my students worked hard and were respectful.
One 12th grader said within the first 10 minutes of class, "So was your school in Utah mostly white kids?" *after a short pause of shock* "Well, I wouldn't classify it as primarily anything." "What I'm asking is if there were mostly white kids in your school? Or were there black people?" "Well, I guess you could say it was primarily Caucasian with a larger Hispanic population..." "Okay, so it was mostly white with maybe a couple of black kids. WELL, in case you haven't noticed, there are mostly African-American students at this school, so that's what you're going to get."
Um. Yes. Thank you kindly for pointing that out.
And in case you were wondering, demographic-wise, out of my 30(ish) students, maybe 5 of them are Caucasian. Our school has a fairly diverse population though, including a large number of ELL (English Language Learners) kids. It's neat to hear that kids are from Afghanistan, the Congo, Rwanda, Mexico, etc.
*And just so you know - I am really enjoying teaching all grades. I'm excited to see where the year takes us!*

I am BEYOND blessed to have a promethean board (a smart board) that works well, is good quality, and allows my classroom to have so much more than whiteboards (or in my case - chalkboards) can provide. This board also has the speakers on the side, which my last promethean board did not. #win It also feels so good to be familiar with something considering how unfamiliar I am with everything else.
I basically lived a paperless classroom life for the first few days because I didn't know how to print anything and now that we have to bring our own paper to copy machines and I didn't know how to sign in to the copiers (and I don't have my chip yet), I was just nervous and never had time to figure it out. Today I got both a classroom printer (another WIN) and made my first copies. It feels good to finally figure out a few things!

I truly DO NOT like our email system (Outlook - not a gmail based email) or grading system/IEP program. These are not user friendly or aesthetically pleasing programs. I kind of avoid my emails because the set up isn't my favorite (but don't worry - I'm still a professional that reads and sends emails) and I have no clue how to use my "grade book" application other than to take attendance. I never thought I would say that I miss PowerSchool, but I do. The screens seemed brighter (that could be because we had Mac computers, not just Dell) and the icons were all right where I could easily access them. Also, how wonderful was it to be able to view students' IEP goals and accommodations right on that application? I have to go through my classes and caseload and find all of their goals and accommodations and email them out to teachers. I usually emailed teachers to let them know that I was a case manager, but it makes me nervous that the general education teachers can't look up that information on their own. That puts a lot of pressure on me to make sure that they get all of that information and stay compliant and law-abiding.

Finally, I cannot tell you how kind people have been. Today my promethean remote stopped working and I couldn't find a button on the projector to turn it on. I figured it was the batteries and sent out an email asking for batteries. Supplies are hard to come by, so I offered to return the batteries. So many teachers offered batteries and some sent me an entire box (a little box, but still) of AAA batteries. One of the other math teachers came down during his prep to help me figure out my remote. Sadly nothing worked, but the tech guy was there within 15-20 minutes and he replaced my remote.

I love the people here - students, staff, teachers, etc. I am excited to be a teacher in this school district and will keep you posted on my first year in the inner city!

-Ms. Damron-