Well at least my training is comlpete...sort of?

After 3 days of seminars, several hours of paperwork, a few free meals and a lively presentation (brain-washing) from the Washington Teachers Union (DC that is)....I'm officially....kind of....an employee of DC Public Schools. And by kind of...I mean all new teachers are pretty much hanging out in this unknown gray-area of life (we have quickly found out that, this level of information is DCPS's official operating zone!) But the good news is that we have been promised to be payed on time! (Wait...you mean you don't usually pay people on time?)...I think it may coincide with the day they have me sign and date a triplicate sheet for the 1000th time.

These are among the many reasons that people from DC are surprised I chose DCPS to begin my illustrious teaching career (and by illustrious, I mean: like every great band, the first album is always the greatest...think about it...no seriously!) I have talked to people all week who are here through Teach for America or a similar Teaching Fellows program, all of them have had a crash course about the school system through summer school. They caught on quick that this was going to be a tough school year administratively. At lunch today, someone said to me: "this will make me glad to spend time with students!" And though she said it as a joke, I think she was right, as long as I get to teach math and get to know students, then I'm a pretty happy guy...er...satisfied geek, however you see it! Through every thing I heard over the last 3 days, it snapped me out of a daze whenever I heard someone mention the need to focus on our students. I learned a lot about the student population and standards and practices, but I'll probably forget about it if it doesn't apply to how I can help students!

Thinking back to the "moments" I had on the highway in the middle of nowhere, doubting if I could actually make it out here, I am so glad that I forced myself to do it. Picking up everything and going, left me no option to bail out (that and Dad eventually had to fly out of Baltimore). If I would have tried to ease into the decision and test the waters, I would have wasted so much money flying out to look at a cities like DC, Chicago and Philly, just to be initially intimidated by a large city and crappy school buildings (not to mention, more black kids than I've ever seen in my life). And though there are a lot of people so far away, they don't become strangers...just friends in different area codes, and like I promised...I'll come back (as long as they have an investment account for my travel expenses!)

In closing, I would like to thank you for bearing with the side comments and over use of ellipses. I have been holding in cynical comments all week, and this is the only way I know how grammatically share those feelings (I'm pretty sure blogs don't have to be grammatically correct anyways!) This weekend will probably be a concerted effort to figure out city life, and maybe get lost on the metro. I might update you on that, but definitely an update next week (with pics) of my classroom (when I finally get to see it) Happy Weekend!