so i DO have a job!

I'm the type of person who likes to know what they're in for, and prefers knowing they're in for a fresh new hell to having things up in the air. So today, I went to my school, hoping for the best but knowing that anything would be an improvement over my what's-gonna-happen neuroses. And of course, things are nowehere near as bad as they could be - they are, in fact, overwhelmingly positive, and even exciting.

First things first: the school itself. It's big, three stories of red brick in a horseshoe shape, with a huge tree-filled courtyard enclosed at the back end by a low brick bulding (possibly a gym) and dozens of gray "bungalows," behind which are the tennis courts, swimming pool, and athletic fields. We are the Pathfinders, and our colors are burgundy and something else. By employee estimates, the school is home to 54-5600 students this year, with 36-3800 on track at any time. We are roughly the second or third largest around, and we are not sad to see the torch passed to other schools. More students mean more problems, and my school is remarkably free from problems, considering. Walking though the courtyard at lunch, I witnessed one fight waiting to happen, two girls screaming at each other with a crowd jostling for the best viewing positions on the surrounding benches, but nothing major. The kids seem mellower than those at my summer site. I don't see the sharks, those students who slink around scanning the horizon for trouble just waiting to happen. They also seem less hormonal, or at least the culture is less open to overt public displays of libido.

I'll be housed in what I can only describe as a semi-bungalow; it's not a building proper, but it's not entirely portable either. It's most like a two-story barrack, built to last a short time but eventually considered permanent. I'm told the carpet smells funny if you turn the air conditioner off, so wear a sweater. PlugIns also work, though they are often stolen, likely by other teachers. The mixed blessing here is that every time we come back from a vacation we're in a new room, so I must only bear the carpet-smell for a week, after which time it will be passed on to some other unlucky nomad. As far as my students are concerned, I 've heard varying reports: according to my sub, they're great, just a few clowns, but ask Ms. Lewis, who teaches ESL directly below me, and they "sound like a herd of elephants" who will definitely need reigning in. I can tell you, though, that there are very, very few of them. My school is on a six-period day, but ESL is blocked, so Im only teaching three groups of kids. It breaks down like this:

Periods 1 & 2 - ESL 2
Period 3 - English 12
Period 4 - teacher prep
Periods 5 & 6 - ESL 3

The classes are small, too, with 22 students in the first, 14 in the second, and 34 in the last. I am more or less dancing around as I type this - I HAVE 70 STUDENTS! IN TOTAL! ALL DAY!

Compare this to someone who has 5 classes with a standard 35 students apiece. You'd be dancing, too.

So I was pretty right-on about what classes I'll be teaching: ESL 2A, ESL 3A, and English 12. My ESL classes, being two different levels, use two different texts, the A and C levels of High Point. Level B is actually 2 texts, and I'm not really sure how ESL 2B encompasses both, but that doesn't seem to be my problem. English 12 is Modern Lit. It has no curriculum. None. I can teach whatever I want, as long as it fits any definition of both "literature" and "modern." This is pretty exciting for me, but it presents a unique challenge, as I want to go into the textbook room to see what relevant novels they have class sets of, and the textbook woman's policy is Do. Not. Let. Anyone. In. Period. In order to successfully retrieve books, I need to know specifically what text I need from her, how many, and for how long, and even then I need to be on her good side. In the long run, people tell me, this is achieved by sufficiently demonstrating that you really care about your kids and that you are not going anywhere. As I do care and I'm here for the semi-long haul (at least 3 years, though I'm kind of assuming closer to 5) , that will work itself out eventually, but right now I'm trying to work out some kind of short-term fix. I think she likes me well enough to give me a list of all the novels they have, if she has one handy. If she does not, she will like me less for asking.

I met many valuable contacts - that is, great people - today, including my small school co-chair, the bilingual coordinator, a couple of really likeable and experienced ESL teachers who share my prep period (score!), and last but not least, my substitute. He has been there since the second week of the semester, and, mindful of my eventual appearance and not wanting to "step on [my] toes," he has helpfully not had my seniors write anything, taught a single standard, or "gone into anything too deep," thereby reducing the time I have to make significant progress by two full months. Thanks, long-term substitute!

So, I go in Monday and have one week with my kids, effectively the "first week of school" wherein I set up my expectations, diagnose the seniors' writing and make a mad dash to actually teach some standards based on one or several short stories I will have photocopied for them, and clumsily grope my way through High Point with my ESL classes. Then my kids go on two months' break, during which time it looks like I will be long-term substituting for an English class on another track, taking short breaks to move into a new apartment and do a weeklong, mandatory, and much-needed High Point training. Or, I may be utilized as a day-to-day sub. I'm hoping not. You know. Because of how much I love things being up in the air.