Life and Hall Passes

My First Day

Today--I won't lie--was horrendous. It was completely overwhelming.
I have stepped into a position teaching over 120 freshman and seniors
who have had little to no discipline thoughout the year. When I
walked in today, as the first teacher who has stood her ground with
these kids since the beginning of the school year, they were NOT
pleased. I'm sure that most of them probably think I'm the biggest
bitch they've ever met. But, the staff is incredible and supportive
and have welcomed me with completely open arms. Teachers who aren't
in my department were stopping me to say welcome and to offer support
(perhaps just because they had an idea of the kind of brats I would be
teaching and felt bad for me--haha, just kiddin). Anyways, so I'm
incredibly excited (although, I won't lie--I think I thought to myself
"what have I gotten myself into?!" about 50 times today), but I know
that the next few months--especially the first couple of weeks--will
be some of the hardest weeks of my life. I just have to think, "long
term rewards, long term rewards...."

So, here's a few lessons learned from Day One as "El Teacherundo"
(that's Spanish for "the best teacher of all time". It's true--look
it up):

1. Don't let kids out of the classroom on your first day of
teaching. Even if they threaten to pee their pants, tell their mom on
you, and ask things like, "what happens if my bladder bursts?" (To
this question, the correct reply is, "We'll just have to wait and see
when it happens" One kid--when I said that today--said, "Does it
hurt?" I replied, "I don't know--my bladder has never burst")
2. Sometimes the kids aren't lying when they say they have to leave
class 10 minutes early to catch a bus to go to their other high
school. What's funny, though, is not believing them, holding them
until the bell rings, and then actually having the bus leave without
them. Tee-hee... my baaaad...
3. When asked if you have a boyfriend, the best response is, "You've
only known me for 30 minutes--I'm not going to tell you that." Of
course, when they reply, "Our old teacher told us all about her
personal life, how she met her boyfriend in a chat room and the first
time they talked they talked for 3 hours and she wanted to marry him,"
it's OK to giggle. Just do it on the inside.

Wow. Hmm... yeah, when I think about it, today was a bit humorous after all.

posted by jed & theresa @ 5:10 PM