Today is the last real day of school. Technically tomorrow is a school day but nobody's gonna show up. So today I have a handful of students and they are the sweetest things ever. My second period dutifully watched Clone Wars, which I brought in to demonstrate the Joseph Campbell monomyth I went over yesterday. I gave my third period a choice: clean, take an exam or watch the video. To my surprise, they opted for cleaning. Go figure. So they got a trash bag and some paper towels and some cleaning stuff and wiped off all the tagging and whitened all the white boards and ripped all the posters down. They may not write in complete sentences, but boy can our kids make a room sparkle. I'd be depressed if they weren't so damn sweet.
Now it's fourth period and I have three actually students of my own, plus four others that have wandered in from other classes. They're playing Uno. I actually left them alone for half an hour earlier to run an errand. They told me to go, that it would all be okay. And it was.
I really like my job right now. What I thought was going to be a disastrous change will end up being a blessing. I moved to another department in the school and now I have a permanent classroom with lots of storage space. I actually want the classroom next door, but I have so much going for me right now that others don't that I'm going to keep my mouth shut. Maybe I'll get that room next semester. In the meantime, I'm teaching 12th and 11th graders next year. I have been waiting my entire teaching career to teach 12th grade, and yes, I know how dorky that sounds. But I can teach Hamlet now. I have notes I took on how to teach Hamlet three years ago that have just been sitting around waiting. I am a dork and I don't care who knows it.
So next week we start the new year (year-round school) and I am prepared with a new room, new kids, new yearbook and new classes. This is gonna rock a little.
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Hamlet is awesome. It was the first Shakespeare play I read in high school that actually held my attention. It's so wrought with conflict, it's almost palpable.
ReplyDeleteI envy what's in store for your kids. Especially when you whip out those notes. :)
Emily, just wanted to say Hi. We teach on opposite ends of the spectrum -- I'm a preschool teacher. But we're both year-round! I'm getting an influx of new 3-year-olds this month and next. I wonder why so many writers seem to be teachers. Anyway, good luck in the new school year and get lots of writing done!
ReplyDeleteHey, just wanted to say thanks for the link!
ReplyDeleteNot a problem, Claude.
ReplyDeleteHey, David. Kudos to you on the preschool. The little ones would drive me batty. I didn't realize anybody tried year round with little kids.
Rob Thomas who runs Veronica Mars was a high school teacher too. I guess the vacation time gives you the ability to write in comfort. I know that's what I like about it, if I ever get my vacation this year.
By the way, love your redesign. It looks so very pretty.
Thanks. I like the redesign too. Whaddya know -- simpler is better.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think if I was going to choose to be a teacher, I would have picked some level of grade-school. Off at three, summer vacation etc. But I just fell into this thing by accident, and I'm kind of committed to the preschoolers now. In other words, no way am I going back to school for another credential. I'm very very done with school.