I'm Back!!!

Hi, everyone! Sorry it took me so long to get back here, I'm trying to get into a routine and it takes a whiile. I hope you all had a great week-- I know I did! I can't tell you how much I love my kids and my school. I realize that this is the "honeymoon" period, and things may be different by midterm, but I'm just going to enjoy this as much as I can. I've never had a school year start off with so many kids that I really like right off the bat. Usually it takes some time to get to know them. My principal has no problems with me playing music during class (most do); as he put it, "you are a professional and it's YOUR class- do what you want". This is the first class that totally feels like an expression of me, and I think that helps me to be more relaxed. Of course, nothing is perfect... six freaking copiers, and not one works! Welcome to public education, folks! Since I couldn't make up the puzzle packets that I wanted to do, we watched some coverage of Hurricane Francis and discussed hurricanes and other extreme weather. I'm not planning on teaching weather until later in the year, but hey, it was there, and they were interested. In fact, my two lowest-level classes were enthralled with it, and asked some really intelligent questions.

There is one teacher in the science department (who I think is going to be named our dept. head) that is a psychotic bitch. She is soooooo phony-nice that I want to puke. Just from observing her, it would seem that she has a dislike for African-American kids, especially the boys. She says things that break my heart, but I don't know what I can do. She is tenured, so if I were to go to the administration, there is nothing they could do but talk to her, and then she'll be pissed at me. So, those poor kids have to sit in her room...*sigh*. I mean, if you don't like black kids, why the fuck are you teaching at an urban school? She's also one of those old women who wears too much make up and talks in a fake high voice... makes my skin crawl.

Otherwise, I LOVE everyone in the science department. There are two girls straight from college, Nina and Dena. They are really enthusiastic and energetic, and loads of fun. There's a woman who is also in the army reserve, Andi. She's sarcastic and realistic and extremely knowledgable about physics, so I'll be bugging her when I get to that. Finally, there's Bill. Bill is the dad we all wish we'd had. He's smart, and funny, and easy-going. This is his last year, and I think it will be a great loss to the kids. We're all kind of isolated from the rest of the classes, only interacting with our individual teams from the "outside world", as we call the academic wing. They separate us so that if we blow up, we don't take the whole school! We have a lot of fun, and I'm rediscovering practical jokes (I know it was Bill who glued all of my pencils in the holder, even if he swears it was Nina!) . Do you remember the video for the song, "No Rain" by Blind Melon? Where the little girl in the bee costume is searching for a place to fit in, and in the end she finds a field of people in bee costumes? I feel like I've found my bee field! I hope you all feel this way when you go to your jobs. If not, start looking for something else- it's amazing how fast my days fly by, and how much I look forward to going back. I hate to sound depressing, but I'm hoping that this will last. Have a great weekend!