returning to life...

i lost it there for a little while, and by "it" i mean "all of it" - desire to teach, empathy for my students, reason to get up in the morning.

now i have a new job, with a charter school (i eventually got fired from the old one; don't think i posted that). glory hallelujah. still serving low-income urban students, still 98% African-American, but ohhhhhh what a difference. the principal is strict but kind. we have resources. there is structure and organization. and it sounds like the students don't fight all the time. (students haven't returned yet).

in the videos and photos we've seen, the kids look cautiously optimistic, almost open; they don't look like they are so hunkered-down, angry, and afraid as they were at my old school (yes, i start to see how my former students felt, now that i am slowly, slowly, uncurling from my mental fetal position).

there are some returning teachers who whine about their job. i finally had this conversation yesterday:
me: "have you ever taught in [big urban district i just fled]?"
whiner: "no."
me: "you don't know how lucky you are."
whiner: "well you've never taught here." (flounces off in a huff)
me: "goddamn stupid spoiled brat." (no, i didn't say this out loud)

once again i begin to get excited about teaching. so you'll see some posts sharing/recording ideas and resources. i know, weird, right??

it helps that i'll be teaching 7th/8th social studies - my favorite age group, and what i was trained to do! yay! i'm so excited.

i know it won't be perfect, but i don't think a day will pass when i am not thankful not to be in my classroom from last year. but if it does - if i start to get like that whiner - just slap me around a lil, ok?