Friday was a gong show, to put it mildly. Kids crawling around on the floor, kids being unsafe in the gym, ridiculous girl drama that makes my head throb. I settled them back down in the afternoon with an art project many of them seemed to enjoy. But yeah, I was definitely ready for the day to be over.
Some school background: I'm working at an inner city school with quite a small population. Due to the nature of the neighborhood, we have a pretty transient population, with families just up and leaving with no warning, and new ones coming in. School isn't given a high priority, so attendance isn't the greatest. Last year, during my 9 week practicum, I saw one student maybe 8 days.
I know that, despite the challenges of the neighborhood, I am in an extremely good situation for my first long-term (fingers crossed) teaching job. I did my placement at this school, I did some private EA work at the school, so the kids have seen me around, and I know quite a bit of names and some background on some of them. I know what to expect, for some part, regarding behaviors and expectations and why they are the way they are. One of my students didn't go home this week, at all. They couldn't - they didn't have bus tickets to get there. That's probably why they weren't a joy to have in class. Another of my students is a selective mute (info here: Selective Mutism). Having a new teacher is probably super stressful for this student, but because I know the history, and they've seen me around the school before, I'm not pushing them to talk, and I have heard this student talk in class. Just not to me, but that's still huge!
Anyway. I'm heading back to the school to get things organized, and things planned. I'm hoping that with more structure, with less idle time, the days will start to get smoother, and I won't want to bang my head against my desk by the end of the week.
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