Memory Lane

My new town has a Memory Lane. Also, a Rainbow Road.

Today was a long, long day. I started off by meeting all of the staff at my school at our first faculty meeting. We attempted to watch a simulcast of the superintendent speak, but the principal couldn't figure out the sound until the last thirty seconds. Otherwise, though, the principal is great. I'm excited to work with her. Not only is she really nice to me, she also has a reputation for keeping the kids in her school in line. I'm happy I was placed here.

Due to the TFA/CT certification process, I won't be officially "hired" until my cert goes through, which will be another couple of weeks. For now, I'll be paid as a sub. Once the cert goes through, I'll get back pay and benefits. Money makes the world go 'round. Fortunately, I get really nice discounts at Staples.

Those discounts are important, since the school provides me with very limited copy paper. I get two reams per month, which is 1000 sheets of paper per month. With about 150 kids, I get 6-7 pages per student per month. That includes weekly quizzes, worksheets, labs, and tests. Not gonna happen. Fortunately, Staples has sales on paper pretty often.

I also printed out big posters for the classroom with the rules, consequences, and our class motto (7th grade: "Ask and Investigate", 8th grade: "Be A Scientist"). I also printed out a poster that says "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." I think this is going to be my class theme for the year. I want to teach my kids that they can do well in life if they start working hard now.

That quotation helped me get through the day today. I unpacked about two dozen boxes in my classroom of lab supplies and textbooks. I think that the previous science teacher backed up the classroom with the knowledge that he was not going to be unpacking them himself. I had a mess of glassware, scales, goggles, chemicals, and other lab supplies. It's exciting, but overwhelming. I wish I knew what to do with them. I also have a TON of textbooks. Literally (definition 2) a TON of textbooks. I had to go through all of them and figure out which textbooks are plentiful enough to give each student to take home, and which textbooks are for in-class assignments. I ended up with a Life Science (7th Grade) textbook for each student (I think--60 textbooks for 2 classes of 28) and a Human Body (7th grade) textbook for each student. There aren't enough 8th grade textbooks for all of the students (probably because there are so many 8th graders -- 3 classes worth), but I have one class-worth of about 6 different textbooks, including Physical Science and Electricity.

With hard work and some pulled muscles and a couple of scrapes and stubbed toes, my classroom is unpacked. Tomorrow, I will begin decorating. And the planning continues.

T-minus 4 days until school starts!