(no subject)
Day 1 - September 06, 2005
Today started at 6:00. Had breakfast at 7:30 with the faculty. Got to sleep some time before 11, after going to bed a little after 9. As per usual, it had taken me a little while to get to sleep, as happens when I get nervous. I can see this happening a lot this semester, so I guess it’s time to get used to it.
I spent the majority of last night trying to piece together a few lessons to be ready just in case I had to run either of my classes immediately. Granted, having 2 lessons ready isn’t really anything, but it’s the best I can do right now. I know I have to teach a unit on Asia right away, I’m just not sure when I’ll start teaching, and how much my supervising teacher will do. I’m not really sure how this will go, which is the strangest part of this whole thing. How much do I do, and how quickly? If there is something the teacher usually does, that works well, do I just ask, or will she bring it up? She’s been to China and has a lot of books and videos and posters, so do I let her take the lead, or do I do it myself and risk doing a disservice?
I talked to my other supervising teacher and he said he planned on teaching into like the middle of next week, so the lessons I set up for him won’t be needed. I don’t mind that at all, because it gives me some more time to work with Geography.
I met the superintendent, and she is an interesting woman, who seemed to rehearse everything she said. My town is planning on building a new elementary school, if the voters ok it, so an architect was there today to tell us a little bit about the plans. Otherwise, the teachers signed their insurance, contracts, and other forms today and met the new people and learned about room changes. This was rather boring for me, as I had nothing to fill out. My school has an auditorium with orange, yellow, and red seats. It was built in the 70’s.
I grabbed the rest of the resources for both books to try and find sheets to run off or other lessons to snag. I have cd’s for both of my books to use, including test banks.
My University supervisor called to make sure I gave him my address and contact info and such. He seemed slightly excited that I hadn’t given him this stuff yet, since he emailed me about it on Sep. 1st. He fails to realize that I haven’t even had school until now, so I didn’t even know my schedule and wasn’t sure of my address. Oh well.
I set up my schedule to have 8th grade math 1st hour. MEAP’s are coming up, so the guy said he would be running the class for a while to study for those, so I don’t think I’ll have to worry about running that class and setting up lessons till mid-October or so. I have US History 4th and 6th hour. I have 7th grade Geography 2nd and 7th hour. That means I eat 5th hour and have my prep hour 3rd hour. That’s my day.
The toughest thing today was trying to wade through all the things my supervising teacher has for Geography resources. She doesn’t use a textbook at all, and she only has enough for one class at a time, which means if I want kids to do assignments out of the book, it has to be done in class. Otherwise I have to make handouts so everyone can have them. That’s going to be tough, because the easiest thing for me to do is follow the book, because I have so many other things to worry about.
I picked up paperwork for subbing today, and should fill that out soon, and call the MARESA office and have them fax my fingerprints over to the school. I also found out that hooking up a phone line will be rather expensive, so I might try and get a new cell phone because with the one I have now, I am roaming. That might happen one of these days, as well. This means Internet will be only if I stick around school for a while.
I get no key to the building, but it is open most all day, and the custodians apparently can help me get into certain rooms.
Today at school ended some time after 4:00. At one point today, I was ready to just sit down and cry, but I think it will only get better from here once I get used to it. I think the other teachers here will help me however they can, but I don’t really know what I need, because I’m not really sure where I’m headed… Day 2 beckons.