week 1: flexibility and adjustments

"Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself." -Chinese proverb

Although the title of this post no doubt applies to the first week of many teachers across the world, I think I can safely say I own it. Here's why:

Our middle school is brand new this year. We accepted incoming 6th and 7th graders with enrollment capping at 50 per grade. The 7th grade enrollment filled up 2 weeks before school, so our principal sent out the word that 7th grade was closed, but 6th grade was still accepting enrollment.

So on the first day of school, we had students with a 6th grade schedule coming up to us and saying, "I'm a 7th grader!" By mid-day we figured it out: About 20 students were enrolled as 6th graders when they were actually 7th graders. Because their parents wanted them at our school so badly that they lied about their grade level.

This meant that on Thursday, I received 3 new 7th grade classes: my homeroom, and 2 7th grade reading classes. SO now I have 6th and 7th graders this year! Which is great because I was beginning to really regret not having any when I saw them in the hallways, with their all-knowing smirks and self-assured swaggers.

Other things to deal with this week included not having Internet for most of the school days, and our technology was not hooked up. We all learned how to use our projectors so we could at least have Powerpoints going. But there are no laptops for students. Here's hoping that those show up by next month so we can get some Web 2.0 up in here.

But this week, although frustrating and overwhelming, was so beneficial: an exercise in patience and ingenuity, for sure. I give myself a B for overall teacherliness and the stunning display of dominance that came out of me when I met my new homeroom. Subduing a class of 18 students of 12-13 year olds, most of which were boys, is a rare feat indeed for someone who is not exactly a model of strict discipline...

Speaking of those boys - man, does my heart go out to them. All the students are adorable and funny in their own ways, but it's those boys that really get me. I am already mindful of the need to accumulate more books that are boy-friendly and to create more interactive lessons so they can move around and show their stuff instead of being forced to sit and listen to me for 90 minutes. I want to reach them. To show them that Language Arts is a guy-friendly subject, not effeminate or weak or stupid. This 2nd week I hope to get started on that. Again, I can only do so much before the students have to decide for themselves if they want to learn. There's enough going for these kids that, if they can just recognize their potential, hopefully a fire will be lit and they'll do their very best to learn. We will see.