August 18- Open house and teaching

Every year at some point during the week before school every teacher gets ready to meet his new students and parents at open house night. It would probably make more sense to have open house after a few weeks into the school year, but with the education system, common sense is not often followed. Usually it can be a productive night where I get to meet my students and introduce myself to their parents which is key. Parental involvement in education is of utmost importance. Without help from parents teachers are left to deal with problematic kids who face little to no consequences for their poor choices at school. The school I'm currently at has pretty good parental involvement. In fact tonight I don't think I have ever seen that many parents show up to a conference night. The classes that I teach freshman were standing room only in some cases which is fantastic. When the first day of school comes around the kids will be ready to go and few suprises will come their way.

This year I teach freshman and seniors. It has been a few years since I have taught freshman and I just think they are coming to high school smaller and smaller. They were so cute. Their little eyes just looked at me like oh god what are you going to have us do in this classroom. I know from past experience they will look like deer in headlights for a few weeks while barely talking. However once October rolls around, they will make friends and I will be longing for the days when they didn't know anyone.

It is a good change for me though. Teaching American History for me was getting stale. Some teachers will teach the same subject for years and enjoy it. However, I definitely know that I'm not one of those people. Teachers in a way are creatures of habit. If you went to any school for a long enough period of time you would notice a few things. Teachers always park in the same general area everyday in the parking lot, some in the same space. At faculty meetings they sit in the same row everytime unless directed to do otherwise. Many will have their class set up a certain way for years and so on. So asking us to change can be a painful experience.