I survived an incredibly painful Day 2 of PD...

Well, Day Numero Dos of Professional Development is officially complete... and this one was painful.  Painfully boring.  It started off rather entertaining with two of my colleagues yelling at one another. I've learned quickly that adults are, at times, even more dramatic than our students.  Unfortunately, that's pretty much where the entertainment ended.  We then had to sit through an extremely boring speaker who made me feel like we should all be "ohm-ing" while sitting on yoga mats and smoking illegal substances.  It was very bizarre and  extremely difficult to sit through without falling asleep.

Tomorrow is the official first day for all of my 9th graders.  I'm very excited to meet my new caseload and to see if they'll be as great, and as hilarious, as my kids from last year.  I've got to make sure to "set the tone" tomorrow though.  Last year I started off the year a little too lenient and some kids thought that they could take advantage of that.  I put them in their place (don't you worry) but it took more time than I would have liked.

So here's another little tip for first year teachers: Let your students know what your classroom rules are immediately... you will have plenty of time throughout the rest of the school year to be friendly.

First Day Back...

The 2010 - 2011 school year has officially begun... for the teachers at least.  I had to sit through a 6 hour professional development today with a flamboyantly gay guest speaker who told a ton of bathroom jokes and embarrassed the hell out of quite a few teachers.  Needless to say, it was the best PD I've had to sit through to date.

At one point during all of the "excitement" (it wasn't that exciting, I'm being sarcastic here), the principal of our high school introduced each of the new teachers joining our "family" this year.  I couldn't help but think of (and cringe) when he had done the same last year; my first year.  Each new teacher, when their name was called, was asked to stand up and wave to all 250 faculty members of our high school.  I remember sitting in my seat saying to myself over and over "Don't look like an idiot, don't look like an idiot, don't look like an idiot..."  When I heard my named get called, I stood up, turned around a bit, waved to everyone, and sat back down.  It wasn't until afterwards, when I had multiple people coming up to me asking me if I was alright or what was wrong, that I realized that in the midst of telling myself not to look like an idiot, I had apparently forgotten to tell myself to look friendly and personable.  Instead, I had stood up, scowled at the crowd, waved a pathetic wave, and then plopped back down in my seat apparently looking suicidal.  Naturally (and unfortunately), I became known as "Sour Puss" and "Miss Grumpy" by more of my colleagues than I had wanted for my first few weeks as a first year teacher.

So my advice to first year teachers: First impressions count, so even though you may feel like you're about to throw up and poop your pants all at the same time, put on your best smile and fake your way through the nerves!