Ra! Ra! Ra!

Well, one week down as a high school teacher. My 6th period continues to try my patience to extreme lengths. I have never had a situation where I have had a number of students with such defiant and disruptive behaviors in class together. I called in my lead teacher to observe the class and emailed my principals while I am trying to not focus on the negativity of that class because my others are pretty good. I've got a couple of boundary pushers in the others but that one class is a doozey. I have yet to master the intricacies of watching the announcements instead of listening to them. The fact that we actually have broadcast announcements and In Focus machines is still thrilling to me. Imagine how cool it will be when we don't have to imagine the announcements. Taking attendance every period on the computer seems to take up an awful lot of time especially since my attendance roster doesn't match my class roster and even if I print it out, sometimes kids are dropped off or added while I am taking roll. Visual me shaking my head like a dog getting water out of its coat. I have had several wonderful teacher moments as I've run into several kids I taught as 7th or 8th graders in my previous district. Woo Hoo!!! To finish out the week, I even went to the football game and learned the fight songs. I really had a good time. To sum my week up: It's different and it's hard but even though the self doubt is crushing sometimes, I know I am in the right place.