Back to Work

Yesterday was the first time I had my own class in over a year.

It was very tough.

Teaching in an inner city school requires much structure -- there are too many students to allow for a loose hand.  But, the greatest issue for me is the challenge to get the students to relate to me as their teacher.  It was obvious that the white woman in the room was not like the boys she was teaching.  However, after a second go, it seems we are beginning to make progress.

Since I was hired only last week, I did not have time to prepare myself or my room.  I do not have enough materials to begin covering the curriculum.  I am thankful that the administration is supportive.  So are my co-workers.  Nevertheless, I am the one who needs to get it together and I am struggling.

First, the classroom is utterly filthy.  I feel so dirty every day.  However, it'll be a slow go.  I have to trash much of the materials the former teacher left for me (she has portfolios of student work -- from three years ago!).  I finally opened the laptop, and was disgusted by the grime on the white Mac surface.  The blinds in the room are broken or gone so the former teacher made curtains for the classroom.  It was a nice gesture, but the curtains are not matching.  There are blue curtains on some windows and maroon on others.  Since it's an old school building, the windows require very long curtains -- instead she made a pair for the top of the window and a pair for the bottom.  I have easily 8 windows in my room with mismatched curtains.  I cannot pair the colors (put all blue curtains on one window and all maroon on another) because I have 15 foot ceilings and the windows go to the top!

Second, I have not yet signed a contract.  The woman at the school in charge of organizing my paperwork indicated that I may not get paid until October 15th.  In the meantime, I am spending money getting to work -- 392 dollars for the train alone.  Add the cost of parking at the train station and my metro card and you can see that I need money coming in the door sooner than mid-October.

Third, I have to teach according to a very set program.  We should all be in lock-step to help the students gain ground on the state tests.

Still, I am happy to be at work again.