Welcome to Florida....here's your keys

I've been living in Florida for more than a month now, and I am finally feeling like a have a small idea of what is going on. I came down on August 7th for an interview. Once I was here, I ended up getting 4 other interviews, and 3 job offers to follow. I chose the Intensive Reading position at Fort Pierce High School. When I was telling family members or people I met in the area where I would be working, the reaction was discouraging every time. The school obviously has a bad reputation. It's a brand new, beautiful building, but the kids are known to be...rough. I mentally prepared myself for defiant kids that peered on the edge of dangerous. I started my new job TWO days before students returned to school. When I came bright and early the first morning, the other 155 teachers were in a professional development meeting, and I was excused to start working in my classroom. The principal led me up to a classroom by itself (other classrooms are in what is called a pod, and the teachers work together in a team) in the corner of building 1. the class has orangy-yelllowy walls and orange seats. It's a headache to look at. the walls are completely blank, and so is the one cabinet and desk. The principal sees that there are textbooks and resource books, hands me my keys, and sets off to do another one of the million things administration does to prepare for the first week of school. Panic began to set in. WHERE DO I START? do I decorate? Do I start lesson planning? What level are my students at? This is a remedial class, so does that mean they struggle a little with reading, or am I teaching the basics? I was so lost! I decided to get familiar with the text book and teacher manual. I looked over the first unit for a good hour, and was feeling a little better about what I could be doing the first week. (note: everything since then has gone out the window) For a good portion of the day, I was running around campus trying to get questions answered and supplies. Could I atleast have a stapler? what about some paper? Come to find out, most of this was purchased on my own with my own money. Thanks cut backs. By the second day, I had a little bit more of a game plan of what to do atleast for Monday. If I could get through Monday, then I could work on tuesday. I can't tell you what the heck the students did in my class that first week. I was so confused, stressed, and overall LOST. Soon I was appointed with a mentor teacher (well, sort of two) Diane is the literacy coach for all the reading teachers; she has been the saving grace of these last 5 weeks. She answers all my silly quesiions, including what all these stinking acronyms mean. She brings resources for me, sits down and shows me how to use data programs, etc... she's been WONDERFUL! My other mentor is another intensive reading teacher, who has been in reading for 13 years, but is new to this school. So, she can answer the curriculum related questions, but she is just as much in the dark as I am when we need to know procedures for sending a kid out of class, or what to do when the pep rally comes.
Now that we are 5 weeks into school, I've had several department and small committee meetings, I have studied testing results, have been observed a few time by administration, and even had time to throw in a vocabulary quiz! I'm getting the hang of things, but that doesn't mean I am working less. Maybe just a little less uptight.
Back to the "rough" student reputation. I really was expecting the worst. The majority of my students are an absolute pleasure. Yes, it's a different population that what I'm used to; but most students want to end the cycle of whatever they've been raised in. They want to graduate high school, some even want to continue on to college. They are happy to have a teacher that wants them to be successful in school AND in life. There are a couple stinkers in each class period that push my buttons and test the limits. The biggest thing is building relationships with both the already amazing students, and the difficult students. You'll see in my pictures that I go to the JV football, soccer, and volleyball games. I'll watch the band. Even the male in my 1st period that is on an all star cheerleading team...you know I'll be there when he competes! Being at their events is one of the ways I'm SHOWING these students that I care about them as people. If they see that they are respected and cared about, they are more than likely going to return that respect and improve their student conduct (for those that have a problem). I enjoy what I do and I became a teacher because of the relationships that are to be had with today's youth. I'm a positive role model, and hopefully a mentor to students that might need some guidance. If we can improve reading skills, too....hey! It was a good day!