week one debrief (pt. 2)

Immediately after my post-teaching prep period yesterday, I met some other teachers down in the parking lot and drove to a local middle school for placement fair #2. It was light-years away from my last job fair experience. For one thing, I was more comfortable. I ditched my expensive black suit - too hot to teach in, apart from making me feel like an indestinguishable teaching drone - in favor of my favorite brown slacks and a jacket I got separately at Target, which somehow matches exactly, with a comfortable shirt and the funky silver necklace my mom bought me as a graduation gift. I felt like a real, practical teacher, and more importantly, like myself. I also walked in unconcerned about my job status: teaching this summer class is my chief concern, and everything else has been categorized "Will Work Itself Out Eventually." And even though it's only been a week, I've learned a lot about myself as a teacher, and I knew that I wouldn't have to make up what I thought I would do if a student cursed at me. Most importantly, I walked in knowing what (and where) I would and wouldn't be happy teaching. And that is how I ended up being hired at a high school three miles south of where I'm placed for the summer, teaching ESL.

I know. I was surprised too. But I really clicked with the two women who interviewed me, both assisitant principals, and I felt in them both a real love and faith in their school and its children. They were also incredibly straightforward about the neighborhood these kids live in, and the role of the school in their lives. This school, they say, is a safe haven, free from the "race riots" reported at other high schools throughout the city this spring. It is a quiet place, a green place, where the students feel comfortable, and where they spend as much time as they can before the place is closed up at night. At the same time, the neighborhood is not a nice place to live. Gangs are a serious problem, as the LA Weekly reports this week, and the police can be just as serious. There has been a tension in the air all week, since the much-publicized deaths of baby Susie and her father - whatever his role, no one feels safe where a 2-year-old dies at the hands of a police SWAT team. No one feels that reasonable attempts were made to go in after her. My high school has sports, but no other extracurriculars, mostly because parents don't feel safe unless their kids walk home in groups. Plans are being considered for an after-school homework help center with a shuttle to drop kids off at home.

That being said: I love Watts. I had been hoping, despite the drive, that my summer placement school might have a spot for me, and I'm thrilled to remain in the neighborhood (though my kids will be incensed when they hear I'll be teaching for their rivals down the street.) My kids are so sharp and perceptive. They have big dreams. They are generous and forgiving. And all of this comes, clearly, from their families and their communities. It's a really scary place to grow up, and these kids are so brave. I want to be there with them, saccharine as this sounds, and help them in any way I can to achieve those dreams.

And then there's the question of subject matter. The women who interviewed me seemed to really like me, and to be incredibly interested in my linguistics background. We had chatted for about twenty minutes when one of them looked at me with big doe eyes and said gently, "I'm sure you expected to teach English. But what we really need is an ESL teacher." She told me all about the department, its energetic young staff, and the school's fast-rising rate of promotion to standard English classrooms. She also told me that she's never known someone who started out teaching ESL to go back to a regular English class. It's the kids. They are the ones who really want to learn. My interviewers explained all of this, told me I should only go where I will be happy, and then asked me, what did I think?

The truth is I didn't need to think. My classroom this summer is integrated, even if it's not officially designated as such. I have kids whose reading and writing are so sophisticated that they really shouldn't be retaking this class, and I have kids who need their friends to translate for them when I ask a question. And the assistant principal was right - they are the ones who show up every single day. They call me over and ask me to check their work, to explain things again and again. They call me "Miss" and smile at me on the courtyard between classes. Some of them are rowdy, sure, just like all kids that age. But they desperately want the knowledge I have. Their student surveys reveal it: I am not very well at writing but I like read about sports. I like English because I learn some thing new everyday. I am not good at write esays but I will try harder.

So here I sit: an ESL teacher. I'll have two periods a day of ESL2. The school has 3 levels of ESL, the third being very similar to standard English 9. Every kid I teach will have passed at least one full year of ESL, and my job will be to build on the skills they have learned in that first year, and progress them as readers and writers. And in case the cake needed some icing: my third period will be standard English 12, which focuses on modern lit. That means that unlike my othe classes, or even standard 9th grade English, grammar will be present but will take a backseat to critical thinking, writing, and reading the short stories and novels that make me happiest. I'm hoping that I can pass some of that joy off onto my kids.

There are still a few details to be ironed out. For one, I may have to switch back to stanky LMU credentialing, depending on if I can get the required bilingual certification through TeachLA. For another, my school is year-round, and I'm on B track. This means that when I go in to work on the 22nd of August, I see my kids for 3 days before they go on 2 months' vacation. Probably I will be teaching intercession or doing subbing for the other tracks in those months, so I can continue to grow as a teacher and keep a roof over my head. I'm not worried about these things, though. I have a placement. And really, I couldn't be happier.