Welcome to DC Public Schools...

But first, welcome to my blog! Please allow me to introduce myself and explain why I've decided to keep this thing in the first place.

I was born and raised in suburban Maryland and just graduated from college in May, 2006 with a degree in science education. I student taught very gifted students my last semester and had the time of my life. I love teaching! I love the craft of developing lesson plans and assessing student understanding. I love the instant gratification when a student learns something you shared with them. I love the challenge and adventure of this job. Or at least I did last semester.

Having failed to find a job in Maryland at a school similar to the ones I attended, I decided to take an offer in Southeast DC. For those who may not be familiar with DC, let me explain. The city is divided into four quadrants relative to the Capitol building in the center: NW, SW, NE, and SE. NW is the the richest. SE is the poorest. SE is then further split by the Anacostia River (the most polluted river in the country, by the way) running diagonally through it, cutting off the most southeastern corner from the rest of the city. This is Southeast proper - East of the River. I remember Chris Rock once saying something along the lines of, "The part of DC where you can get shot while being shot." But that's only what I've heard. I myself have zero experience with the area except for the two times I've driven to my new school.

First year teaching, by all accounts, is supposed to be the toughest challenge any individual can undertake. It is therefore easy for me to assume that my job in SE DC is going to be difficult to the extreme. I have started this blog to help me with this challenge and perhaps help others going through similar situations. Reading another first-year teacher's blog was what convinced me I could take the job in DC in the first place, so I feel like I need to give back to the first-year teaching community. Also, if I ever want lots of advice on a topic, I can just ask my readers!

Let me start with this. I am an excellent teacher. Really. I can proudly say that I did an excellent job student teaching. I worked those kids to the bone but they took it all in and learned so much. I was so impressed with the work they turned into me and the respect they showed me. Plus, they liked me and I liked them.

I'm done bragging now. Because as quickly as I convince myself I was a great student teacher, I remind myself that this student population will be a wholly different experience. I'm switching from all gifted students to 1/3 of my students being special education. I have no idea what this is going to mean for me. I'm kind of freaking out. Minus the kind of.

Here's what I've done so far. I've decided to put full trust in experienced teachers who have had success instead of me just experimenting. At least at first. I get the feeling that I need to have these kids locked down and respecting me as an authority figure from day 1 and I don't want to screw that up at all. So which experienced teachers am I trusting? Well Matthew Perry from the TNT movie, "The Ron Clark Story", which I happened to catch on TV 4 days ago, of course. No, actually, I'm not that flighty. And I wasn't that impressed with the movie. I was genuinely impressed with the idea of using rules and manners as the entire basis for an effective classroom culture, though. I went to the bookstore, bought the book "The Essential 55" by Ron Clark, and read it all that night taking notes. I loved it! It made so much sense to me to make manners enforceable rules to ensure order in the classroom and to simultaneously teach students necessary skills for a lifetime. So, I took Ron Clark's 55 rules, and boiled them down to 14 Manners and 13 Class Expectations. I also bought a book called "Positive Classroom Management" by Breeden and Egan that I used to develop my spiffy new hierarchy of punishments and rewards for breaking or keeping my rules. If anyone is interested, I'll post these things.

I have two questions for the viewing public, especially any veteran teachers.
1) Is it as good an idea to make the students always answer, "Yes, ma'am" or "No, Ms. DC Newbie" as I think it is? I excitedly told my mom and boyfriend, 'I've decided I'm going to make the kids call me ma'am!" and both looked at me like I'd lost my mind, and pointed out I'm not a ma'am because I'm not married. I'm a very casual person, so I recognize this goes against my personality, but I thought it would instill a sense of respect for authority. Any thoughts on this, anyone?
2) Should I have all my rules posted and ready to go on Day 1 to create a sense of unwavering order and authority, or should I let the students create some of their own rules first (which I'd hope and expect would largely be the same as my pre-prepared rules anyway) to give them a sense of ownership in the classroom? Has anyone tried it both ways and found one way to be any better?

In closing, let me share why this entry is titled as such. Today was my first day of New Teacher Orientation. One presenter, a third-year teacher, started, "Welcome to DC Public Schools!" as was typical, then proceeded to ask the group who of us was teaching in SE. About half of us raised our hands. She then goes, "Mmm, good luck." And not in a hopeful, wish-you-all-the-best kind of way, mind you. She said it the same way you would say "good luck" to someone who was trying to fly to Japan aboard a paper airplane. Welcome, indeed.