Check-up

So sorry about the humongoid size of all those photos. I don't like the way blogger loads photos (because it in fact doesn't load them at all) so I did it another way that evidently posts the pictures in astronomical proportions.

Monday was the first day of school. I guess I'll like my classes all right. It almost seems at this point that the classes are just there as filler, reinforcing things we've already learned in other classes. Being in a cohort-type atmoshpere, even though it isn't an actual cohort, is really cool because I have many of the same people in many of my classes. Sandra, my super cool office mate and friend, is in all my classes (or is hoping to be if that tricky linguistics course works out right), which I love because that gives me an excuse to spend more time with her and therefore make us better friends. It's very different from the classes that I teach; in the grad courses when someone isn't there, there's at least two other people in the class who know why that person isn't there and what that person is up to and whether or not the teacher can expect to see that person in the future. In the beginning writing classes that I teach, no one knows anyone else and they all give me the impression that they couldn't care less about it.

Teaching is going well. My 102 class seems well-integrated into the school atmosphere already. My 101 class, however, has no idea how to behave in the college setting; they're still very high school-ish about things. I'm just looking at it as good training for my future as a high school or middle school teacher.

My spirits are up lately about being able to find a job next year. A few days ago I searched some of the district sites for this area. Many of them list no job openings, which I expected since school starts next week, but a couple of them still have the job postings on there from last year. The good news is that in the Meridian disctrict they hired six or seven (I can't remember now) English teachers and I know through the grapevine that the Boise district hired around that many also. And for all the high school listings, they state that they would prefer to hire someone who has experience working with at-risk kids. I have more experience working with at-risk kids through the shelter than anyone I know. I think I don't have as much to worry about as I once thought I did.

And on a final note, I have no idea where my comments section went. It disappeared when I posted those monstrously-sized photos. Maybe they'll turn up again soon.

One more final note...Thanks to K, who bought me a wildflower bouquet yesterday for my first day teaching.