Nose to the Grindstone

So today was the first day of school. Again. Actually, this marks the seventh first day I've experienced, and I still find myself a little nervous and sweaty, a little unprepared, a little forgetful about everything I need to say, even to this day. Old habits die hard, I guess. At least, though, I seem to have gone through the "burn out" year last year, and that "seven year itch" you hear everyone talk about may just pass me by. :)

Five years of freshmen were quite enough. I'm teaching seniors this year; this semester, two sections of English II, British Lit., and one section of English III, AP Language and Composition. The group dynamics of each class could not be more different. As I was checking my roles earlier this week, I spotted several kids who were pesky troublemaking freshmen. I even remembered where they sat and what they did, which they couldn't believe. Typecasting students, you know, is something teachers are really adept at, especially in a small population school. However, I was pleasantly surprised at "said students'" behavior today, and despite their feeling a bit overwhelmed by the work load, I think everything will be peachy. But it was, after all, the first day. Seniors can be just as immature as the rest of the herd, you know. 18 makes you an adult on paper, not necessarily in maturity. Gosh, I feel old just thinking that!

AP should be fun--and challenging. This is our fledgling year, so to speak, as we try to build our AP program up and prepare students for college rigor and writing in all disciplines, not just 1101 and 02. We had 26 signed up in May for our two AP English courses, but about 12 have dropped as of today. They've decided to switch back to regular college prep senior English II. It's a fear factor thing. "Scared" seems the be the operative word with this group of kids--scared of failure (which they won't), scared of the work load (which is not that bad--what in the world are they gonna do when they get a 15-hour college freshman schedule???) and scared of, let me see...how should I phrase it? "It's my senior year and I want to have fun." Yikes. Yeah, we all want to have fun, but I just can't seem to empahsize to them the competitive nature of college admissions these days. Oh well. I could bore my audience forever and ever with my frustrations and soapbox on student work ethic and holding their feet to the fire. And I'm too tired to go there. 9pm leaving school every night this week has worn me down. 8am to 3:30pm? Yeah right. Not this white girl with an OCD to get it right and all planned out before I go home. Teachers hours my ass.

English teachers, by nature, are the workhorse professionals, the perfectionists, of the school faculty. I'm not being haughty. It's the truth. Just ask any faculty member at a school what group tends to ask the most questions, which department raises the most issues, and who gets on everybody's nerves the worst. Nine times out of ten, they'll say (usually while rolling their eyes, I might add), "Oh, the English department." Some might get their feelings hurt at that comment. But I don't care. I take my job seriously, and I DO NOT know how to do a "bad job" at something. I can't imagine being one of those teachers who passes out worksheets, or gives instructions and then goes to sit behind a desk. Get me OUT of education when I come to that point! And the kids know how hard we work, too. They respect how hard we work, and they reap the rewards when they get to college and are successfully prepared for their composition classes. We get phone calls and emails (and visits) all the time from former students who just want to share their success in college composition (or other classes). Among the disaster that public education sometimes can become, our English department is definitely one thing we have going for us. And that makes me proud.

Bedtime for me; I'm hoping to fall asleep to a movie I tevoed earlier today: the 1965 loose adaptation of Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum" on TCM. Stars Vincent Price, whom I love and loathe, all at the same time. Have no idea how it will be played out, but knowing the cross between Poe's dark romanticism and 1960s cheesy cinematics, it may be a bit trippy!

"Tevoed." Hmmm. I wonder about the spelling of that. And how long will it take before that becomes a new entry in Webster's dictionary. Oh, and check out my AWESOME new quote that I totally made up today while standing in front of my AP class. Its creation prompted me to gloat and shout out loud. AP students, ya'll know the meaning. :)