Finally, a chance to breathe

Hi, everybody. Yes, I finally have a free, relaxing weekend to catch up on some blogging, a few other things (I finally got a haircut today, for example), and to finally feel settled in. With the exception of a truckload my parents are bringing over tomorrow, all of our stuff is here in our new house now, so all we have to do is figure out what to do with it all.

So, teaching. How's it going, Eric, I can hear you ask. I'll be honest, it's mixed. There are times where I feel I am doing a good job and things are progressing as well as can be expected. That's my rational, logical side talking. There are other times — often in the same day — where my paranoid side is panicking that they're going to fire me any day now. After some of the experiences in my last contracted job (the year of the strike), I'm afraid the paranoid side wins out a lot. Every time the principal or a colleague comes in, things go well and I get good feedback. The principal even gave me one of his "Superb Teaching" notes. But now that the students have been here for a few weeks and that start-of-the-year honeymoon phase is over, I also see the struggles I'm having getting ideas across, conveying my expectations, and how indifferent a lot of the students are to it. How can I help students who don't even want to put in an effort? What can I do for students who are taking a class for a second, or even third, time? This is a good curriculum that's well laid out and doesn't make unreasonable demands on a student's time, so it shouldn't be that hard to do the work. Oh, well, I'll keep plugging along and see if I can make a positive impact. I know I have the support of my colleagues and administration, however, which is something I'm not used to, so I feel pretty sure that at least it's going to work out all right in the end.

Further complicating matters, my room is too small, and too many of the cabinets are still filled with science equipment. I have nowhere to put my own stuff or what I need to teach with, and the students are crammed in a bit. (At least my algebra class no longer has forty students. They found a place for the middle school students.) I've also run out of books, but more students keep coming in as well. This school has a large migrant student population, so I can see that this is going to become a problem soon.

On the lighter side, Homecoming is this coming week, and as one of the junior class advisers, I have a few duties to perform. I have plans for costumes for most of the week, and I get to see the town's Homecoming parade for the first time. Laura and I are also going to the football game, and I'll probably be at the volleyball game as well.

Anything else I need to add? What do you want to know about this new job? Go ahead and ask in the comments. I'll see if I can get a chance to answer them later.

Yay, it's over!

School starts tomorrow morning in the Bellevue School District. It sounds like the board actually wanted to settle and start, unlike a certain district I worked in a few years ago.

Quick update

I really should be working on grades and some other paperwork, but I thought I'd take a quick moment to let you know that yes, the job is underway, and I feel like I'm settling in now. Oh, sure, there's a lot of stuff to do still, but I'll eventually get around to it, I suspect. Meantime, we finally got into the new house a couple of days ago, so we have that whole moving-and-settling-in process to deal with. But the good news is, it's finally starting to feel real. I'll have a few more details when (if) I ever get a chance to finally catch my breath and can get a free weekend without having to go back to the other end of the state (where I am right now, and will be again next weekend, as the movers are coming then).

Here we go again...

I know all of my loyal readers are anxious to hear about the start of school, but that's going to have to wait. This morning, I want to comment on this story, the first teacher's strike in our state since the one I was involved in four years ago. Again, this looks like a clueless school board not realizing what they've stepped into. The Bellevue teachers authorized a strike back in June, before school even let out, but from what I hear, the board only started negotiating a few days ago. It sounds to me like the big issue is micromanaging teachers, insisting that they use a centralized curriculum handed to them via computer. There is no wiggle room to take into account individual student or class needs or abilities. In other words, the central office doesn't trust the teachers to do the job they've been doing all along. I thank my lucky stars that I'm currently in a district with a lot of community support on all sides, and that for the first time in my career I've started the year on time and without incident. I wish I was in a position to help out the Bellevue teachers, as I was the beneficiary of much help from other teachers when I was on strike. But Laura and I are still negotiating those last few steps to getting our new house and dealing with the old one, and so I'll just have to pay it forward another time. Considering how close the district I subbed in the most last year also came to a strike this year, I can't help but wonder if this one is a harbinger of what's to come if the state doesn't start taking its job to fully fund education more seriously.