Let the Fun Begin!!!

I went to my first meeting as a teacher at my new school today (or...new place of employment, since I attended school there for four years)!  I have lots of feelings about it...

1.  The coach epidemic was more prevalent than I had hoped...at least two of the new people hired are strictly PE...even though half of the staff is PE already...how does the school afford this and justify it?  Am I going to get fired for asking this?  Sorryyyy.

2. I remember being a student there and hating it...I hope that doesn't affect how I interact with kids.

3. Some of my teachers are still there...will that make me more of a wuss and less confident?  There are also former classmates working there, and I was one goofy fool back then.  I still am, but not in a professional setting....will seeing those two worlds collide be weird and make me act dumb?  The good news about both of these:  I can blame it on pregnancy hormones!!

4. Gifted education isn't a priority at all at this school (or maybe it is for some people now and that's why I'm here).  I am going to be fighting a battle to get these kids what they need--but not necessarily a battle with teachers and resources and administration.  The kids themselves (older ones at least) are going to be a little put off by the idea of trying something new that requires more thought or more effort or possibly even some work on their part.  What high school kid wants more to be responsible for?  I have a job ahead of me as far as planning goes.  I may have to plan something different for each individual in a lot of cases.

5. A lot of people don't know what gifted is...will I be teaching staff about this at some point so we can maybe get a little support for the kids?  Will the kids feel labeled and get made fun of?  I think that's more of a middle school problem than high school--what high schooler doesn't want to be acknowledged for being smart?

Okay--enough feelings.

At the "training" today there were some memorable quotes:
"There's me some Language"
"Front row for Billy Sue"......Billy......and Sue.......is it just me on this?

I had to get fingerprinted for the fourth year in a row this year.  Maybe I should chill on the job switching, huh?  Last year was for the Catholic school I was working for--not a new job, but still....I feel like a criminal.

Highlight of the day:  pop tarts for lunch--blueberry!!

Sad, I know.  It'll be better once B gets home and I've had some time to lay around.  I don't know how I'll do on a full day of work.  I just did 9-3 today!

The constant rain is helping me relax a lot--love it! (but want it to stop before I have to go to work regularly)