The Teaching Begins: Rough Starts and Rough Stories

So I started teaching Monday...it was rough. I didn't realize how much classroom management I would have to utilize to keep control of the class. I came home defeated and asked my parents for advice (by the way...I don't think I could get through this without my parents...they literally saved me). So, per my dad's advice, I made a compromise with them on Tuesday. There are two bells...one that starts class and one that ends class. The compromise is that I get one bell and the students get one bell. The chose the one that ends class (obviously the one I wanted them to choose) so I got the first bell. That means that they get to leave when the bell rings to end class, regardless of what we're doing, but when the bell rings to start class, they're in their seats, doing their bell work quietly. So far so good! I set the tone for the entire week and I'm finally starting to get the hang of this teaching thing (especially the classroom management part).

I'm still struggling with the fact that most of the kids don't have some of their basic needs met. They may go without a meal, or clean clothes. Today, during fourth block (this is the one class my mentor teaches that I'm not going to teach...a Care of Athletes class) and there's this young man in the class who is incredibly talented at baseball. I was sitting next to my mentor when he started talking about his family's money problems because his dad is out of work and his mom went from working two jobs to working one job. He has a baseball tryout this weekend and he told me his parents are dropping him off at the tryout and then they're going to a barbecue with their friends...they're leaving their son at an important tryout to spend time with their friends. He went on to tell me more things that I'm not going to share...but just listening to him completely broke my heart. Here's a kid that is beyond talented...has a chance to play in the pros and he's not getting the support from his parents that he should be. I keep going back and forth on my opinion of teaching in an urban district. On the negative...budget cuts, bureaucracy, and test scores. On the positive...I have the chance to impact a kid's life in a unique way. I'm torn. Maybe by October I'll be more opinionated...but for now I guess all I can do is give my students as much support I can.