After a whole 6 days of being the center of attention at New Teacher Orientation, all of a sudden we are just a few fish in a very crowded pond! There are so many teachers, it's unbelievable. Everyone seems to be at least small-talk-friendly, but not really a "hey, why don't you come to lunch with us?" kind of friendly. There are definitely cliques, but I guess the good thing about a big school is that ultimately I suppose I will find someone I can tag along with.
I met my mentor, as well as several of the English teachers in my very large department. Many of them are very young as well, and have only been teaching for a few years. That is refreshing to see, because it means they are very sympathetic to my position. One of the girls came over to my desk yesterday and gave me a printout of the units they taught last year, in order, and how much time was spent on each. Mr. Mentor is nice enough, but I think sort of old-school (I'm getting flashbacks of my Block 2 Observation experience). He is certainly willing to answer any questions, and help me with anything I ask for specifically, but he doesn't seem like the type who will continuously check up on and go over things with me on his own. I've only had a few brief conversations with him in the past few days. In a way, I would be more comfortable with a mentor who was a bit more... "motherly," I guess... but this just means I have to work a little harder to do it on my own, and to prove that I can do it on my own.
I'm so excited to see this school embracing technology the way it is. They have a school wiki which has all kinds of information on it for teachers. I've created my own teacher wiki to use as an easy web page reference for my students until I can figure out how the freakin' Mac programs work to create a real one. I swear, I can't find anything on that computer, and I'm so tired of everyone saying "You'll love it once you get used to it!"
I'm ready for my long weekend, but that just means next Tuesday will come around even quicker.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
New Teacher Orientation
Well, I kind of said this in the little blurb on the side, but I'll write it here too, in order to explain who I am and what I'm doing here. I am a first-year teacher at a HUGE rural-suburban high school. I just graduated with my teaching certification in May, and am extremely lucky to have gotten a position in this particular district. I am going to keep this blog as a professional development/sanity saving tool. I kept a journal during student teaching and found it to be tremendously helpful on two levels. First, simply to have a space to anonymously vent about whatever I need to get out... Second, to keep a record of my experiences so I can learn from them. I suspect the next couple of years are going to be somewhat tumultuous and it would certainly help to remember what happened so I can learn from it: to be able to return to my thoughts and reflect at a later date.
As I said, I've just gone through my first week of New Teacher Orientation at school. In an effort to create anonymity, I will call it Huge High. You think I'm kidding! This school is bigger than anything I've ever seen. Actually, I haven't even seen it, I've only been on a tour of half the building because it took so long. Sometime in the next week I will have to venture out of my comfort zone and into the other half so I know where I'll need to go to cover my study halls. I have only ever attended or taught in small schools. My high school was about 500 students, my first college was only about 1500, then the two schools I taught at were 900 and 700 respectively (and that 700 consisted of grades 7-12!!). So to be in a building that has over 200 teachers alone... and 3200 students under one roof... well, it's a little overwhelming and it hasn't even been filled with kids yet!
I discovered very quickly how amazing it is that I was even hired. When I found out I had this interview, I discovered that my interview was one of only three chosen from a file drawer of applicants about 2 feet deep. Everyone in the orientation group (at the high school anyhow) has either transferred from another district or already been teaching as a sub in this school. I am officially the only one who was hired "straight out of the box." So on one hand, it's wonderful that I'm being given this opportunity, and I am eternally grateful. On the other, it's terrifying that I'm being given such high expectations. The bar is set really high here, and I'm not secure enough in my abilities to feel completely comfortable. As I said to someone today: "I don't know how I'm going to survive the next two weeks... I'm pretty sure something catastrophic is going to happen."
After the first week of orientation, I feel like I haven't gotten very far in my planning for the school year ahead. We spent the week getting acquainted with the district and the school, but as far as any lesson or activity preparation, I've done nothing. I haven't met my mentor yet, that comes this week, and I wanted to be sure to talk to him before I get too deep into the planning phase. There are just so many questions and I'd really like to talk with him before I go into this blindly. So far I've gotten my desk a bit settled. I don't have a classroom, my desk is in an office/faculty lounge, which I'm sure I'll be discussing in greater detail later. I've taken in some personal and desk-y items, and have a whole list of stuff I need to take in next week, because I won't be able to function till I have a space that is truly "me!" I've been trying to create a website, but can't figure out enough Mac-basics to get very far (grrrrrr) on my school computer. Oh yeah and I was all proud I did my seating charts, only to discover I created them in Training-Mode on the database, so none of them are saved and I have to start over....
Only other thing I have to report is meeting people. I've met an absolutely amazing role-model English teacher who I'm sure is going to be on speed-dial. She is a tech-goddess!! I'm going to drive the poor girl nuts, I'm so glad to have met her already. And I met a very nice math teacher whose desk is a few over from mine. Hallelujah for people who are friendly and assertive enough to introduce themselves!! Not everyone has been super-friendly, but I'd say a majority of the administrators/other teachers have at least been cordial, which is something I was worried about in this notoriously clique-y district.
As I said, I've just gone through my first week of New Teacher Orientation at school. In an effort to create anonymity, I will call it Huge High. You think I'm kidding! This school is bigger than anything I've ever seen. Actually, I haven't even seen it, I've only been on a tour of half the building because it took so long. Sometime in the next week I will have to venture out of my comfort zone and into the other half so I know where I'll need to go to cover my study halls. I have only ever attended or taught in small schools. My high school was about 500 students, my first college was only about 1500, then the two schools I taught at were 900 and 700 respectively (and that 700 consisted of grades 7-12!!). So to be in a building that has over 200 teachers alone... and 3200 students under one roof... well, it's a little overwhelming and it hasn't even been filled with kids yet!
I discovered very quickly how amazing it is that I was even hired. When I found out I had this interview, I discovered that my interview was one of only three chosen from a file drawer of applicants about 2 feet deep. Everyone in the orientation group (at the high school anyhow) has either transferred from another district or already been teaching as a sub in this school. I am officially the only one who was hired "straight out of the box." So on one hand, it's wonderful that I'm being given this opportunity, and I am eternally grateful. On the other, it's terrifying that I'm being given such high expectations. The bar is set really high here, and I'm not secure enough in my abilities to feel completely comfortable. As I said to someone today: "I don't know how I'm going to survive the next two weeks... I'm pretty sure something catastrophic is going to happen."
After the first week of orientation, I feel like I haven't gotten very far in my planning for the school year ahead. We spent the week getting acquainted with the district and the school, but as far as any lesson or activity preparation, I've done nothing. I haven't met my mentor yet, that comes this week, and I wanted to be sure to talk to him before I get too deep into the planning phase. There are just so many questions and I'd really like to talk with him before I go into this blindly. So far I've gotten my desk a bit settled. I don't have a classroom, my desk is in an office/faculty lounge, which I'm sure I'll be discussing in greater detail later. I've taken in some personal and desk-y items, and have a whole list of stuff I need to take in next week, because I won't be able to function till I have a space that is truly "me!" I've been trying to create a website, but can't figure out enough Mac-basics to get very far (grrrrrr) on my school computer. Oh yeah and I was all proud I did my seating charts, only to discover I created them in Training-Mode on the database, so none of them are saved and I have to start over....
Only other thing I have to report is meeting people. I've met an absolutely amazing role-model English teacher who I'm sure is going to be on speed-dial. She is a tech-goddess!! I'm going to drive the poor girl nuts, I'm so glad to have met her already. And I met a very nice math teacher whose desk is a few over from mine. Hallelujah for people who are friendly and assertive enough to introduce themselves!! Not everyone has been super-friendly, but I'd say a majority of the administrators/other teachers have at least been cordial, which is something I was worried about in this notoriously clique-y district.
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