Good news:
I received a call from the principal of a school where I applied last year, asking if I was still interested in teaching Earth Science at their school. I went in for an informal interview last May and was really impressed with the structure and management of their school. It's still further from the bay area (which we already miss), but the pay is higher and housing is cheaper. Even though it's not our ideal location, Kathy agreed that it was a practical and responsible move, so I was delighted to turn in my resignation at the school in Concord and accept this new one.
My new school, Freedom High School, is in Oakley, CA. The year started earlier than almost every other school - on July 28th - which cut my summer short, but they make up for it with a nice 2-week break in October. They have a unique A/B-Day Schedule in which every class is 1.5 hours and we only have half of our classes each day. It makes lesson planning easier, but I also have 180 students! When it comes to grading, if I only spend 1 minute per student, it would take over 3 hours!!!
My classroom is oddly shaped - similar to a triangle but with 5 sides - more like a baseball home plate. It has 18 lab tables that seat 2 students each. I've already tried 3 different arrangements of desks and chairs, but the shape of the room makes it quite difficult to have it so that everyone can face the front and it's not impossible to get around. It has plenty of storage, a nice, big skylight right in the middle of the room, and 3 giant dry erase boards that slide to reveal a big-screen TV. I'm quite pleased with my new home. :-)
The first few days, all the freshmen go through "Boot Camp" which is a cool way for them to get to know each other through ice-breaker games, get oriented with the campus, learn the rules and strategies to help them be successful. This gave me two whole days without students so I could get further organized and prepared. I'm still struggling to learn everyone's name - I'd say I know at least 90% by now, but every time I rearrange their seats, I seem to forget about half of them.
We just finished the first quarter, and I'm already thoroughly enjoying our October vacation. Our family has a fairly packed itinerary for the next two weeks. I just hope to have some time to finish grading from last quarter and be more prepared for when we return.
I'd like to hear if anyone gets this far in reading my blog. Please leave me comments, and let me know if you are interested in seeing any pictures. I'll try to do another update in a few weeks.
