New Kid in Town

This may be a slow week on the blog. It is one of those meetings-from-hell weeks, plus we have special career day events on Wednesday which will take away from teaching.

Most importantly, my Granny, who made it to 97 earlier this year, is likely to pass away very soon. She had a stroke last week, and now is not eating, so it may not be but a day or two, God bless her.

I can report that our new English teacher finally started on the job today. She is the teacher who our principal wanted to hire during the summer, but couldn't get approved because of fear that she wouldn't pass the NCLB's "highly qualified" muster. You may recall what all that led to.

Anyway, we are back to square one, and this was our new contestant's first whirl in the classroom; she seemed to be fine, and I liked what I was hearing from her students about what she told them. She's probably about my age when I first started, which (I hope) means her experience with what the rest of the working world is like will help her keep the craziness of a high school in perspective. This may seem counterintuitive - after all, aren't schools the places where, these days, things are tolerated that never would be in the "real world? - but after about three weeks of panic, I found my patience for the trials of teaching was much higher than it was for the trials of boring office work that drained my spirits. Guess it all boils down to whether or not you are doing something you love and enjoy (most of the time) - something the majority of human beings who have walked this earth never have had the opportunity to experience. I try not to forget that.

When I get a better feel for how she's working out, I'll report.