My Cardboard Balcony

Wow. It is the first day of school at my new job on Monday. I will be working with over 120 students this year, teaching four sections of English Language Arts 10 and, of course, one section of Yearbook. I have used so much paper printing out syllabus after syllabus, class contracts, and first week assignments. I have structured my English curriculum for the first semester and begun designing skill-building sessions for Yearbook. I have even started tidying up my classroom (though I'm definitely going to get my students to help "create the space" - totally not just a cop-out for me doing it). I am taking a no-nonsense, yet loving, approach to my Yearbook class, and while I will certainly include some of that in English, I will also have to be mindful of the many sophomores who have IEPs and Section 504s in my classes. I am so anxious that this first week will turn out to be difficult, dramatic, and out of control. But I am also so, so excited. Again, I have a ci...

Drink Up, Teach! by Belinda Roddie The first day of school is Monday. Time for beer.

Walking down the street with my earbuds jammed so far into my canals that I think I'll go deaf before I hear the last symphony on my playlist. I'm drinking up the air like it's thick enough to be a milkshake, and my whole skeleton rattles from the external beat, resulting in a very internal rhythm. I think I'll swing by the bus stop and beg for change again, though not for a cigarette this time.