Interesting day. No provision for newbies, so I wandered into the main office area around 7:45, 15 minutes before the program was to start, and eventually asked the principal's secretary where I should go when it became apparent everyone else was renewing acquaintances and into their own agendas. Into the media center (didn't they used to be called libraries?), where about 40 tables were set up. Wandered around for a few minutes and finally sat at a table where there was a familiar face -- Melanie, from the classroom management course I took last week. Turns out the entire table was new-to-the-school people (4 of us), but 2 of them had prior teaching experience elsewhere.
The principal is also new to the school, and gave a pretty good introductory talk... took us through the data on how the school ranked (not pretty, at all), and was inspirational about improving it. A couple of off-hand remarks I heard through the rest of the day indicated that the change he represents is a welcome one; apparently, the administration at MHS had gotten very complacent and resigned.
The rest of the day was less helpful. I peppered the principal's secretary with a hundred questions -- I didn't have any idea who else to ask regarding things like where I go to get my ID, how to get my computer, how to get stuff carted out of my classroom (which has apparently been the repository of all spare file cabinets since 1963), who I should talk to about getting more student desks (there are 32 in the room and I have 2 classes of 35 students), how I can get a new whiteboard, etc.
It occurred to me this evening as I was contemplating the day, that I will walk into the classroom on Monday having spent a total of 1 day in the last 35 years in a high school classroom, and, if it weren't for this career-changers program, without any guidance as to what to do or how to do it. The thought that I might have conceivably been hired in the city where my younger kids live and walked into that classroom completely cold is a frightening one. Not that a week's worth of advance instruction is a lot, but at least it gives me a framework. It also makes me wonder, and I mean SERIOUSLY wonder, how the vast majority of teachers make it through their first few days. I've been around a fairly long time, and experienced a lot of new jobs, new places, etc., which gives me some grounding, at least to the extent that I know what I don't know, and am not embarrassed to ask someone about it. Maybe the Education majors out there learn it all from their student teaching or other places, but I feel as if there is virtually no support at all for first-year teachers within the school itself, and I wouldn't want to be in that position if this were my first job out of college. Maybe there will be more support coming through the rest of the week, but I don't see it on the schedule.
The principal is also new to the school, and gave a pretty good introductory talk... took us through the data on how the school ranked (not pretty, at all), and was inspirational about improving it. A couple of off-hand remarks I heard through the rest of the day indicated that the change he represents is a welcome one; apparently, the administration at MHS had gotten very complacent and resigned.
The rest of the day was less helpful. I peppered the principal's secretary with a hundred questions -- I didn't have any idea who else to ask regarding things like where I go to get my ID, how to get my computer, how to get stuff carted out of my classroom (which has apparently been the repository of all spare file cabinets since 1963), who I should talk to about getting more student desks (there are 32 in the room and I have 2 classes of 35 students), how I can get a new whiteboard, etc.It occurred to me this evening as I was contemplating the day, that I will walk into the classroom on Monday having spent a total of 1 day in the last 35 years in a high school classroom, and, if it weren't for this career-changers program, without any guidance as to what to do or how to do it. The thought that I might have conceivably been hired in the city where my younger kids live and walked into that classroom completely cold is a frightening one. Not that a week's worth of advance instruction is a lot, but at least it gives me a framework. It also makes me wonder, and I mean SERIOUSLY wonder, how the vast majority of teachers make it through their first few days. I've been around a fairly long time, and experienced a lot of new jobs, new places, etc., which gives me some grounding, at least to the extent that I know what I don't know, and am not embarrassed to ask someone about it. Maybe the Education majors out there learn it all from their student teaching or other places, but I feel as if there is virtually no support at all for first-year teachers within the school itself, and I wouldn't want to be in that position if this were my first job out of college. Maybe there will be more support coming through the rest of the week, but I don't see it on the schedule.
No comments:
Post a Comment