Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Here come the troops...

Tomorrow is D-Day. No, I don't mean the day of death; I mean, "do or die". For me. My students will arrive for their first day of school this year with an unfamiliar face in the teacher's chair. I don't live in the town where I am teaching, so none of the students know me, nor the teaching staff. So, I am a complete stranger, with no one to connect with for reliable answers to my many upcoming questions. I'll sink or swim, so to speak. I worked all day today on getting things in order. It still doesn't seem like enough. It is sort of that way every year at the beginning of each sememster, though. It doesn't matter how many years of teaching experience one has; the beginning of each new semester is chaotic.
I will have one section of ninth graders and many sections of tenth graders. For the first few weeks, we will be reviewing things and preparing the sophomores for the state test. Any English teacher should know their grammar, so most of the review should come naturally.
It is just the logistics of things that make me insane. New place means new expectations. For example, this school has the students keep portfolios throughout their high school careers. I must find those in jumbles of hundreds and keep adding to them. I also have to have each student get a two pocket folder to keep in my classroom. It will NOT leave the room. This is for D.O.L. and graded work in case parents want to see what their child has been doing, or lack thereof. Lots of things to remember. Brain overloaded. Need sleep. Hungry. Signing off - I'll let you know how the first day goes tomorrow.

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