Saturday, August 05, 2006

First Day Back

The requests have been pouring in for me to talk about the first day back at school. Well, okay, Jen requested that I talk about the first day back, and who am I to disappoint a reader?

The Highlights:

--I enjoyed seeing everyone--well, almost everyone--again.
--At our annual system-wide meeting, we watched a video about the Code of Ethics by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, complete with over-the-top "reenactments" of situations like teachers making out in the supply room, teachers making sexual advances towards students, teachers climbing out the window during class, and teachers drinking alcohol during class. Certainly we would all agree that these situations are WRONG, but seriously, the whole presentation was like a spoof of a very bad PSA. The whole room was rolling!
--Tim's won the big door prize at the annual Kiwanis teachers' luncheon, which you can read about here.

The Downers:

--I'm not sure who may come across this blog in the future, so I'm not going to say all that I'm feeling about this, but none of the English textbooks or novels were ordered, and who knows if or when we'll get them? (I'll just say that everyone in the English Department did their part as far as this is concerned, so the blame falls elsewhere.) We have textbooks now; we just needed extras. The novel dilemma, though, is making me have to come up with a Plan B for my seniors, as one of the novels, Grendel is scheduled just a few weeks into the semester.
--I discovered that the "work days" before Thursday are really just days packed with meetings.

Not a bad first day. I do have a good bit of work to do still, so I better get back to it.

4 comments:

Jenny said...

Just have the kids buy their stupid books. If they don't, oh well. There is always the library.

Also, they can afford 100 dollar shoes and crap like that, they can afford a book that costs five dollars! :)

Amy said...

I see your point, but getting 120 or so kids to buy Grendel within just the first couple of weeks would be a bigger headache for me than coming up with a Plan B. Plus, I can imagine the parent complaints (ridiculous, I know). For Honors, I would consider it, but not for the "regular" seniors--it's just a battle I don't have the energy to take on. It's true, though...many of them seem to have plenty of money for their "wants."

Jenny said...

Oh, I didn't realize it was for nonHonors and for 120 of them! Nevermind! :)

Kristy said...

I feel your pain about not having supplies. I've been having anxiety this past week about all of the items that will be missing... It's nice to read another English teacher's blog--it challenges me and makes me feel ok for the way I feel. :) Hope your plan B succeeds.