This 'N' That

Just a few bits and pieces from my world this week.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I swear, the days fly by! Even with classes being 100 minutes each, they absolutely fly by, and I find myself in constant motion from the time I get to school each morning (about 7:30) until the time I leave (usually about 4:00). Sometimes I find I need to visit several different offices. As the school is spread out over 60+ acres, and it's built on a big hill, with stairs everwhere, I do sometimes get my exercise!

I am getting more and more comfortable with my job and the kids. I still have some things to learn, and I am still building a trust and rapport with the kids--it all takes time. But I'm coming along, and I have to say, I've got some really great kids. There's a small group of juniors and seniors who like to hang out in my room after school playing the piano and singing. A couple of boys sometimes bring guitars, and they all sit around playing, singing, and even rapping (it's all clean). I really enjoy listening to them. The creativity is astounding.

Schedules and Stuff

For future reference, I want to lay out how the school works because I will sometimes make reference to block scheduling and other things.

First off, the school is huge. Not only is it on 60+ acres of land, it educates somewhere around 3,500 kids. This requires about 165 teachers, and I don't know how many aides, secretaries, maintenance, custodians, food service workers, etc. I've truly lost count!

Because the school is so huge, we have a principal, an associate principal, and four vice principals. The principal and AS are housed in the main administration building. The four VPs are each in charge of a house (think Hogwart's). Each house is a group of classrooms with it's own administration office. Each kid is assigned to a house, as is each teacher. For example, I'm in House 3. My mailbox is there, I use that staff lounge (though I am more than welcome to visit others), and that's where I go if I need disciplinary help.

Next is the schedule. There are seven class periods, with first period being an optional period for students who want an extra class (especially Advanced Placement classes and specialized classes). First period starts at 8:00; most teachers do not teach that period. This period also meets every day; it is the only class period that does.

The official school day begins at 9:00. On even days, periods 2, 4 and 6 meet. On odd days, we have 3, 5, and 7. The school day runs from 9:00-3:00. Each class is 100 minutes long, and we have 8-minute passing periods (long, yes, but when kids have 60+ acres to navigate, and crowds of 3,500 to navigate through...). Lunch is 30 minutes, but with two passing periods on either side of it, it ends up being more like 46 minutes.

I don't teach a first period, and my prep is 5th period. Therefore, on even days, I teach straight through from 9:00-3:00. On odd days, I get almost 2.5 hours of prep and lunch time.

This week we had 3 odd, 2 even days. As yesterday was an odd day, Monday will be even. It's confusing at first, but once the pattern is established, it's pretty easy to follow, for students and teachers.

Are you confused yet?!

Lazy Weekend

I rented a couple of Bogey and Bacall movies to watch this weekend, and Sister Act 2 (you know, Whoopi Goldberg as a music teacher nun?). Sister Act 2 is the theme my show choir and I finally settled on, so I need to see how the story line goes, etc. Plus get ideas for costumes.

That's all I plan to do--watch movies and NASCAR. Maybe go to the bookstore. I'm having a teensy bit of vocal fatigue and want to rest and relax. Maybe make some tea.

Next weekend I'm making the drive up to Lincoln. Thursday night is Back to School Night, so they're giving us a minimum day on Friday. This means I can get on the road and miss rush hour on I-5 and I-80. Woohoo! It will also be payday (double woohoo!!) and, due to an incentive I received when I signed my lease, I don't have to pay rent in October (triple woohoo!!). So...quadruple woohoo...Mom and I are going shopping. : )

...And that's all, really. Nothing too exciting to report!

Cheers,

Meg