COMPARING THE FIRST WEEKS

I started off my second year teaching in Mississippi at a new school. Thank God. Last year I was teaching 3 preps, head, and only member of the math department, and the only person NOT from the delta in the faculty. It was difficult. This year I have two preps, a department filled with many teachers from different backgrounds, and am in a school with 4 other MTC alum, and teachers from different states AND countries. Incredibly more welcoming.

Even if you take away the community, the diversity, the fewer preps, and the one year of experience – there is still something to be said for having a better home-life. Last year I lived with a roommate in a three-bedroom house, and regardless of all the space, chose to keep everything I owned in a single room – bed, desk, bookshelf, clothes, everything. I left school at 3:30 every day, swung by Taco Bell to pick up my only meal for the day, ate in the car as I steered with my knees, went to movie gallery to get three new movies for the evening, immediately crawled under the covers when I got home, watched two movies, began work, watched another movie, then fell asleep at 1:00 am – that was my home-life.

This year I have made a conscious effort not to confine myself to one room when I get home from school. I try to cook every evening, and try even harder to steer clear of the television. The previous year of experience has helped me to learn what type of work to bring home, and what I can put off until the next day at school. Work is not something I dread anymore (well, yes it is, but still…) its something I can plan for, and make time for, and actually complete before midnight.

The first week of school was different this year, but what was even more surprising were the first weeks before school. JPS requires that all new teachers participate in a weeklong professional development. It was agonizing and horrible, with a few brief moments of pain – but, it was still one week that JPS dedicated to its new teachers. After that, there was a one week in-school professional development required of all teachers. I had an entire week to be in my classroom, in the school, get a projector from the library, learn the copier codes, etc. I got to know the school before I was expected to teach in it. It was so much more helpful than the one morning of meet and greet followed by the single afternoon of decorating my classroom that I had last year.
When the kids came I actually felt prepared to send them to the office, write a referral, give a detention, make copies of an assignment, etc.

The best part of my new school year? There’s a coffee machine in the library.