"downtime"

A logistical update, for those who were wondering:

I left Institute on the 5th, had a few free days, and then had two days of Orientation last week. (See posts per decreased numbers, crypto-racism.) This week, I've got lots of school and schooling-realted business. Tomorrow, I'm going to my high school with another girl (remember the one, back in June, who had never seen fog?) to see, not to put too fine a point on it, what the hell is going on. I in particular have a lot of questions, based on my track.

A quick refresher: My school is massive. I've heard rumors that it has the largest enrollment in the state, and also in the country. Despite my best investigative efforts I can neither confirm nor disconfirm these rumors, but I can tell you that it is BIG. We have 5,000 kids, broken up into three tracks so that only about 3,000 are on-track and on campus at any given time. A-track is almost like the traditional calendar, just a few weeks shorter, with winter break from the end of December through February, and summer break in July and August. C-track is a little skewed, with summer in May/June and winter break in November/December. I am on B-track, the least coveted of the three, with "winter" break in September and October and "summer" break in March and April. In the future this will be wonderful, as travel is always best in fall and spring, but at the moment it means that I will be walking into a classroom for my "first day of school," while the kids will have been there, with a substitute (or twelve,) since May. My official start date is the 22nd, meaning that I'll be there for three days before the kids go back on break until roughly Halloween. As you might imagine, I have some questions about how this is going to work.

As near as we, the new hires, can tell, everyone at this school is wonderful and helpful in person, but unless you're there face-to-face, you had better have some combination of persistence, unlimited local calling, and God on your side. So tomorrow, Riley and I are going in, armed with a list of questions, and we do not intend to leave until they are all answered, or 12:30, whichever comes first. Those questions include but are not limited to:

• What am I teaching?
• Where is my classroom?
• How many students will be in my classes?
• Have I had a long-term sub or a series of short-term ones?
• What have the kids been taught since May?
• Can I have a copy of my scripted program?
• What am I supposed to be doing for those 3 days?
• Will I be substitute teaching for other tracks while I'm off-track?
• What does subbing involve?
  
• How much do I get paid for it?
• What small learning community am I in?
• Who is my boss?
• How many periods are in a day?
• What time do I need to be here?
• Do I get a set of keys?

You know. That kind of thing.

At 12:30, we have to drive back up to mid-town to go to lunch with the lone Program alum at our school site. There are ten new Program hires this year, and he's determined that we will build a community, as he didn't have that opportunity. For the most part, I really like everyone so far, though one of the girls seems really cliquey and will only talk to one other girl, who I assume is a friend from Institute. I figure that will change, and if it doesn't, I still get along pretty well with the other eight-girls-and-one-guy.

Wednesday, I get myself out to Westwood to a) figure out when my program starts, and b) pick up my C-19 letter from UCLA. This is the piece of paper that tells The District that I am enrolled in a University credentialing program and that I have completed all other requirements to receive an emergency credential. I did some quick math, tallying up all my testing fees, processing fees, fingerprinting costs, and one of my many transcripts, and this little piece of paper has cost me in the ballpark of $550. While that's nothing compared to the 18 grand I'll be paying for my credentials and MA, at the moment it's a shocking amount of money.

Thursday, I go back to The District, take my little piece of paper up to the 15th floor, and get hired. I get to go to the salary office and everything.

And unless I find out otherwise, Monday is my first day of work.