Done with Orientation

I just got back from the last day of New Teacher Orientation. The pros of orientation were:

• Meeting lots of new teachers who are a lot like me - I'm not alone!
  
• Meeting lots of new teachers who aren't like me - like the Teach for America kids and the DC Fellows (a program run through American University to get certified)
• Meeting veteran teachers who have decided to switch into the DCPS system from other places like post-Katrina New Orleans
• A session about how to prevent and handle aggressive behavior
• The food was surprisingly good, and free!
• Free stuff like Harry and Rosemary Wongs' "The First Days of School", "501 Tips for Teachers" by Edward Ramsey, and some school supplies
  

The cons of orientation were:

• My free school supplies included black construction paper. What am I supposed to do with black construction paper?
  
• An entire day of learning what standards are and how to use them to guide planning. For those not hip on teacher language, standards are just the main things we need to teach. No one should require 5 hours of training on how to figure out what standards mean.
• I never met the other new teacher that will be at my school

I asked a bunch of people at Orientation what they thought about my kids making up the rules or me making up the rules dilemma and everyone seemed to like a compromise that sounds good to me. Let the kids come up with some rules on their own, but jot them down in wording I would use or guide them towards my rules. I can tell the kids I'm going to compile every classes' rules together, but then just put up my rules the next day. They'd never have to know. No one seemed to think going one day without posted official rules would ruin my year, despite what all the literature I'm reading says.

Ron Clark had one funny rule: No Doritos in the Building. The whole point of this rule was just to give him an excuse to freak out about seeing Doritos to provide some laughs for the kids. It injected a little personality into his rules. Clearly I can't just use that rule, because for one, I love Doritos. So tasty! But, I think I've come up with another rule I truly believe in:

Deodorant is for armpits only. Don't you dare use body spray.

I like this rule for two reasons. One, teenage boys seem to honestly believe girls will be unable to control their passions if they spray this foul Axe or Tag on themselves, so they practically drown themselves in the stuff in the hallways and classrooms. Two, it gives me the chance to throw a pretend fit when I see a bottle and to throw it in the trashcan, thus making kids laugh.

I just read over that last paragraph, and now I'm re-thinking this idea. Am I copying Ron Clark waaay too much? I feel like a stalker. And is it funny at all to throw a kid's Axe away? I dunno - maybe I need to find a new funny rule. Or perhaps just not search for ways to steal kids' things.

Another thought I had was about decorating my room. Being a very organized person who can't stand clutter, I'm trying to avoid making my room look like the funny pages. I want it to feel very comfortable, like home. I'm going to try and clear bringing in some rugs with the cleaning staff at the school, and I'd like to have lots of live plants, since I'm fortunate enough to have a number of windows in my room. Wouldn't it be cool to grow herbs like basil and mint in my classroom? That way I can make myself some good dinners at home and even let kids take some home to their parents, as well. And it has got to be easier to keep plants than a class pet. I also wanted to bring in some personality items like my Harry Potter blanket or my Kermit the Frog talking puppet, but I would cry if those things got stolen, so I've decided against that.

Do you see how much time I'm spending thinking about all these details? As a student, I never gave any thought to the bulletin boards on the wall or the class expectations. I guess just how little kids don't realize that their teachers go home at night and don't sleep in the school building, I'm realizing that all this teaching stuff isn't instinct. Every minor thing is loaded with potential meaning and consequences and took a surprising amount of time for teachers to decide upon. I am already thoroughly convinced that teaching is the most challenging endeavor you can find. Why climb Mt. Everest when you can teach middle school?

Well I'm off to finally start planning out my units and maybe even some lessons. On a Friday night. Because I'm cool. Have a great weekend!

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.