Teacher: Year 2 Week 1

I haven't forgotten about all of you faithful and supportive followers but things have been a little nutty as I prepared to get back to teaching this past week.

I'll get back to sharing stories about my summer in Italy in a little bit but thought it would be appropriate to share how my 2nd year as a full timer has been!

I technically started working 3 weeks ago. Finding jobs for teens is really not easy these days. Especially in a college town. I've talked to a number of employers this month who have told me they are reserving spots for their college students who will be returning next week to reclaim their school-year jobs. Many are not hiring at all, the economy wiping out chances to expand or commit to hiring new employees, even it means hiring someone for just a few hours. So as we headed into actual school starting days I had only reached 2/3 of my students and of those only 1/3 of my students were employed. I was nervous.

Monday and Tuesday were staff institute days. Monday the entire district faculty sits in the gymnasium of the middle school and listened to district administrators share info and inspiration. On Tuesday all the high school staff gathered to discuss statistics and rules for the upcoming year. Overall things looked good except for the fact that the stats showed more of our students are from lower-income families and it isn't necessarily a race-determined statistic. The economy is hitting everyone is what that said.

Nonetheless I nervously sent an email to our principal and assistant principal to request a few changes in my program. I wanted to devise a way to keep students in school if they were unemployed so that they didn't just get an F for not getting a job. Staying in school and not leaving early (which students get to do in my program) would be a motivator to being employed. Thankfully they agreed with me. I was thrilled.

I had all my students starting yesterday and by the end of the day I had 20 of 30 employed. The last few need a large nudge to get to work. They aren't really filling out applications and those that are filling them out are dropping the apps off and expecting to just magically get a job. It is too bad they don't learn how to get a job until they've been in my class. That being said, I'm about on par with how things were going last year at this time which is good.

My law class is booming again this semester and filled to the brim with 31 students. I've had 4 chairs added to my room since monday. So far things are going well. My kids all seem to be behaving themselves and despite having a room tucked into a corner away from nearly anyone, they've all figured out where I'm located and are arriving on time.

I left school today with all of next week planned for my Coop 1 class and my Law class. That includes having everything copied and laid out on my back table ready to pass out. All I have left to do is finish planning Coop 2 (my new class) and create powerpoints and possible handouts. Shouldn't be too bad!

It's Sweet Corn Fest in Urbana this weekend. Apparently a big deal. I missed it last year. I love a good corn and will probably taste a few bites.

My next blog should come this weekend. I'll share the next memory from Italy - Pompeii and Sorrento. Photos are on Facebook should you like a preview!

Ciao for now,
KB