Utterly Different

I do not know if I have the words to describe my experience today on my first day at HH high school. I do know that I did not come home with a splitting headache, a dry mouth, or agida because the children were so incredibly different than the middle school students. I feel like I have entered teh twilight zone and I am in the perfect school. The students do not fight in the hallways, they do not talk back to the teachers, they are actually smiling, and they acknowledge your presence. Now I know I have only been there one day but it seems to good to be true and it probably is. However I am being as optimistic about this as I possibly can. My schedule consists of 1, 3,4,7,8 periods. The classes are very small, with the 9th grade being the biggest of 16 students. The building is bigger than my high school ever was and there is brand new additions to the buildings along with brand new facilities. I am really amazed that high schools look like this because coming from Yonkers I never expected it. There is not a high population of diversity which is extremely new to me as well. I met a good amount of the staff today but it will take me some time to get to know their names. I am going to learn the students name first however, as I will be working with them the most. The staff, those of who I've met are nice and have welcomed me to the building. I think I need to figure them out the first two weeks then do some tweeking. One of the biggest things that surprised me was the dress code that the students seem to not have. There were girls in out fits I wouldn't even dream of wearing to school. I really have to get my hands on a student handbook because this is a school very different from past ones. I even saw students wearing hats in the building, I was sort of appalled. I recieved another tour of the school to make sure I was absolutely sure of where I was going. I also recieved a ton of information about students and classwork and all that is happening this week. My CT is so incredible and enthusiastic. She is already going to be absent on Friday but I am going to do a review of Taming of the Shrew with the drama class and hand out a test on Friday to the rest of the classes. I was very nervous going today but I knew I had to put that aside as they saw "the students smell fear" so I was confident and showed no fear. (At least I hope I didn't) I was introduced to each class and they all seem very nice, they even said good bye to me today after class was over. I think I am in for a real shocker working in the high school setting. I have taught summer school high school but I think this is a totally different feel. I am so excited to be in the high school and there are so many things that have already blown me away, from teh building, to staff, to students, to even the smallest things such as the drama club/South Pacific Musical being performed in Nov. I have been invited to sit in on a rehearsal and I am very pumped for that as to I love the performing arts. I am feeling very good about this placement, my CT, and the material being worked on. It is only the first day, but I can surely say I came home with a smile in my face and a warmth in my heart. Oh before I forget, I sat in on a meeting with one of the students and my CT about her college essay. I helped with tweeking and that was an incredible feeling. I feel very young in the school and not quite comfortable yet. The students are not that much younger than me and I think the teachers are older than me. I feel sort of stuck but I am sure that once I get into the groove of things, that will change. . . I hope

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Comment by Bonnie Kaplan on October 22, 2007 at 3:03pm: This sounds great Jackie. Did you get to talk with Julie who shares the classroom with Suzanne?
Enjoy!
See you Wednesday.
This is an interesting small town type district.
Bonnie

Comment by Barry Bakin on October 22, 2007 at 10:44pm: Hmmm, you say "The students do not fight in the hallways, they do not talk back to the teachers, they are actually smiling, and they acknowledge your presence." You also say you "came home with a smile in my face and a warmth in my heart." Would you rather they didn't wear hats or follow a dress code but fought in the hallways, talked back to you and glared at you when they weren't ignoring you, and arrived at home with your typical splitting headache?

Comment by Jacqueline Marien on October 23, 2007 at 2:13pm: Bonnie, I did not get a chance to speak with Julie in depth yet, but I did see her today and we passed a few words about Peekskill. That's about it. I will see you tomorrow.