It’s been three weeks of rest and relaxation, mixed in with some planning and random TFA sessions, but I’m ready and anxious to begin my new position as a middle school ESL math and science teacher. If someone had told me in college that I would one day teach math and science I would have laughed. Although I started off college as a biology major, I quickly dropped in favor of history…science was BORING! But here I am, a few years later, eagerly studying up on everything I need to teach my students and actually enjoying myself at the same time. Math is all about games, ok maybe not just games, but it’s actually kind of fun….sshhhhhh…..don’t tell! But I’m nervous, SO NERVOUS, about teaching students who know little to know English. I speak Spanish, but we are absolutely discouraged from using it in the classroom (after studying my roster it looks like this is the native language for all but two of the 40 ESL students, and the remaining two are from the Middle East). It was almost impossible communicating my procedures and expectations this summer, and at least those kids spoke English! Oh man….
Today was our first day reporting to school, and no first day is complete without an icebreaker. We learned a little bit about another teacher and then shared it with the entire faculty. My favorite of the morning:
“This is Ms. X, she’s the nurse here. Her number one accomplishment is that in the 07-08 year no middle schooler got pregnant!!!”
The crowd went crazy.
The other teachers at my school seem really great. Almost everyone is new, either new to the profession or just new to the school. My school has had 8 principals over 10 years, along with student/administrator scandals and a declining student enrollment from year to year. Last year’s principal was fired after severely messing up the budget and paying teachers for days they hadn’t attended. Attendance was a major problem at my school last year, at least for the teachers. The teacher I’m replacing had over 40 missed days…and she was paid for them. Her case was not unique, it seems that many teachers just skipped Fridays. The new principal at my school was hired from a successful school in the district, and she brought most of her administrative staff with her too (it seems as though they’ve traveled together from school to school in Houston, fixing them). They re-interviewed every teacher at my school and ended up firing most of them. That’s where we all come in, to re-build this school which has lost its good reputation in the community and is under strict scrutiny from HISD.
I’m excited about the opportunity to change things at this school, but it is really overwhelming. My classes are divided by English proficiency level rather than grade level, so I will be teaching all grade levels of Math and Science within each class. Lots of differentiation and lots of lesson planning. Not to mention the language barrier. I’ve heard that ESL students are very well behaved at this school, as compared to the rest of the student body, and that they usually love their teachers. I’ve also heard that teaching ESL is sooooo very hard, especially within a content area like science. Scientific method anyone?
The other teachers at my school have been very eager to help. I spoke at length with a former ESL teacher, and tried to run some ideas past her.
Me: “I heard that getting a classroom pet is a great classroom management technique. I’m thinking of getting a gerbil.”
Teacher: “DON’T DO THAT! The kids I used to teach were from African refugee camps. How do I say this? The kids would have tried to eat it. They’re feral!”
I politely nodded my head and thanked her for her time. How do you respond to that??
New school, new position, new stories. Stay tuned….
