Friday: What a thrill to teach in a school that is high tech, clean, and teacher friendly! All the rooms have ceiling LCD projectors wired to the computers, which is wonderful enough, but with the All Shares function, I can post my materials on my All shares drive, and never have to fuss with flashdrives again, even when I go into a different classroom to teach! For those of you for whom this is the technology- norm, don't laugh at my state of giddiness. Remember where I came from. Last year, I finally purchased my own LCD projector when I got tired of using smeared transparencies, and every morning I had to set it up next to my own laptop, which I hauled to school daily. I placed both items on a rolling cart in the middle of the classroom. My desktop computer was too far away. This took up a lot of space in the middle of the room. Now the LCD is mounted on the ceiling, so the seating arrangement isn't compromised, nor can the students start fiddling around with the machinery. Oh, yes, and there is also a remote to advance power point slide shows, so I can walk around the room while clicking ahead. I feel like a Beverly Hillbilly who just came to town, staring slack-jawed and wide-eyed at these newfangled contraptions.
I met the students today, and while there was the requisite hyperactive show-off in one class, he was a likeable show-off and manageable enough. I think I got off to a good start. On the first day, too much time has to be spent reviewing policies and procedures, which is probably a little boring for the students, but it must be done. If any of them felt as queasy and nervous as I did on my first day of high school, they may have welcomed the ho-humness of reviewing class expectations. Then I put them in groups to show them the procedure for group work. I gave them an article about a pilot program in Atlanta which is paying students to get good test grades, and had them discuss that, as an ice-breaker. On Monday, I'll start the first real Unit, which includes West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet. What I love about this school is that each department already has all the units planned for all the grade levels, and the teachers are happy to share them, along with suggestions of how to implement them. This is such a welcome change from the past few years, where I spent most of my out-of-class time developing lesson plans--in isolation. At the new school, the other teachers are so supportive, always stopping by to ask how everything's going and how they can help. It's fantastic.
About the restrooms, always a concern for a secondary teacher. . . Previously, when I taught three 90-minute classes in a row, from 7:45 until 12:30, I always worried about the call of nature. The closest faculty restroom was located downstairs, at the end of the hall, in another wing. I was unable to get there and back in the five minutes between bells. Unlike in a college class, we were not to leave the students alone in the classroom. In my hallway, there were no other available teachers around to "watch" because they were all teaching their own classes. Ah, but now...the answer to a coffee drinker's dream. . . I have another teacher in my classroom for two of the three periods I teach, and if I absolutely had to leave for a few minutes, the other adults are right there. During first block, the teacher who shares my room has her planning period, so she is at her desk. During fourth block, the SPED teacher is in the room for the entire class. Second block is not a problem because that's my planning period, and third block includes the lunch time break, where the students go to lunch for 25 minutes and then come back. Those not-so-minor details of a teacher's workday, such as having access to a restroom, have a huge impact on the overall experience.
Another detail is lunch. There are three faculty lounges where a teacher can eat lunch. Each lounge has a refrigerator, microwave, coke machine, and restrooms, as well as a table with chairs. If I am inclined to bring my lunch, I can stash it in the refrigerator, which I could never do at my previous job because there was no refrigerator, so every day I brought something in a cooler-bag and kept it at my desk, usually the same uninspiring type of sandwich. The teachers here tell me that the school lunches are quite edible, and if one isn't in the mood for chicken fingers, the cafeteria ladies will take orders in the morning for specially made salads for the teachers for $1.75.
So far, the administration is warm and teacher-friendly. The principal has actually smiled at me and asked, "How are you?" !! At a meeting yesterday, he told the faculty, "You don't have to be afraid to make a mistake. We KNOW you're all working very hard." No wonder there are so few job openings at Richmond Hill High. No one ever wants to leave.
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