Paper

Today started out really well. I sat at my desk and worked on planning all morning. The principal came in to my room and complimented me on how ready my classroom was. I learned I was getting a free iPad.

Then the day took a turn for the...stressful.

It was announced that school is canceled on Monday due to the storm. I spent about two hours trying to rearrange my unit plan so I didn't lose any time, before realizing that I need to be more flexible, but by then it was too late--I had already changed some lesson plans. I guess I'll be flexible next time.

Then, our faculty meeting ran two hours. And those two hours were spent discussing things I didn't understand. Things like: getting kids from buses, feeding kids breakfast, sorting out the grade tracking system that I didn't have access to yet, and class schedules. The schedule is pretty complicated and isn't the same every day of the week. I was really getting worried about logistics when a teacher next to me said to not worry about that stuff, just focus on the lesson planning. That helped a lot, but I still have a lot to worry about.

I will have 5 classes, but they're no longer full at 28, they're over 30. 31. 32. I will have about 160 students total.

Then, I couldn't figure out the copy machine. Eventually, I figured out that the feeder was broken and that I had to copy each page on the glass by hand. There were also no staplers, so I have to staple about 500 packets now. It also turns out that we are allotted two reams of paper per month and everything else we need to provide ourselves. I used 2.5 reams for the first two days. It's a lot of first week stuff, but I think I am going to go through a lot of paper. Two reams per month is roughly six pages (front and back) per student per month. There's no way I can limit my packets, homework, and tests to that. I guess I'm going to win some rewards points at Staples.

I got home and had a nice phone chat with the previous science teacher at my school, also TFA. He will be a great resource of knowledge, lesson plans, and school gossip. He gave me some good advice. He told me that the kids are great, but they need to know that you care about them. He told me that the first month will be awful. The first month is for the kids to test the new teacher. They need to know that I won't let them get away with anything and that I won't run out when the going gets tough. I can do that. I think.

T-minus four days now. I have the long weekend to work and unpack. Cautiously optimistic?