"We miss being ruffians, going wild and bright in the corners of front yards, getting in and out of cars. We miss being deviants. They'll find us here, here here in the guest room. Where we throw money at each other and cry, oh my. We can't stay here, we're starting to stay the same. We can't stay here, we can't stay this way." ~the national

The end of the summer snuck up on me. All of a sudden I now find myself in a week-long string of seemingly never-ending orientation days for new teachers (Monday and Wednesday with the DOE, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday with my school). Luckily they've been feeding us at each one. Today was an orientation for all new teachers in the city's public school system. There were over 3,000 of us. It's the country's largest school district, so it's not surprising that there are so many new teachers. It was surprisingly well-organized. They flooded us with so much information that I'm sure I'll be confused about once it starts to sink in or once it actually starts to apply to me. There were vendors there and they gave out tons of stuff. Here's some of what I got (everything on my bed except the computer):

Tomorrow at my school's orientation I should get my classroom key, and I'm excited about setting up my room.
Next week I have Monday through Wednesday off, and on Thursday and Friday I have more stuff with my school (the returning teachers will be there as well). Then there's Labor Day weekend, and on Tuesday school starts. That's really soon. I have no plans yet; I was just hired on Monday night. But, although I'm a little nervous, I'm excited. I love my school. My principal is very nice and funny, and she's especially focused on working with ELA teachers. She's going to meet with us once a week throughout the year and has already been giving the new teachers lots of helpful advice. The other new teachers are all very nice as well. There's one girl who just graduated in May and will be teaching seventh grade ELA; it's been great to talk to another new teacher who's the same age as me and in the same subject area. I already feel like I have people in the school to whom I can talk and worry and vent and ask for advice.

I student taught twelfth grade. I'll now be teaching sixth grade. There is a HUGE difference between those ages; it will be a completely different environment. I want to teach middle school, though. At first I was set on working with high schoolers, but this summer I've reconsidered. Especially because I'm teaching in New York City, I think working with younger students will be better for me as I'm just starting out. During my interview process I taught a demo lesson at this school to kids who just finished sixth grade, and I loved them. At this age they're generally still at the point where they want to do well in school and want to show off what they know. They're energetic and awkward and confused and eager to impress; they're challenging, but they're fun.

My school is in Washington Heights, at the very tip of Manhattan. Over 95% of the kids at my school are from the Dominican Republic. There are lots of recent immigrants. Nearly all of the students are Hispanic. Many of them are ESL students. I don't know Spanish, but someone at the school said that I'll learn quickly just by listening to the kids. The fact that I'll have kids at different levels of proficiency in English will make things difficult, but I'll learn to deal with it.
The school building is very nice and welcoming. The school is partnered with the Children's Aid Society, which runs after-school programs and a health clinic and dentist's office in the school. I think I'm going to like going to work there every day.

School hasn't been occupying all of my time. On Sunday night I braved the rain and sat outside in Central Park for three hours, listening to Rufus Wainwright. Nic and I shared a small umbrella and I think we each ended up soaking wet on one side of our body, but I didn't care. It was definitely worth getting wet. I loved the concert. He played my favorite song of his, "The Art Teacher," and brought his sister on stage to help him sing a heartbreakingly beautiful rendition of "Hallelujah." He has such a great voice. And he provided entertaining commentary between songs.

Last night Nic and I went to the Mets game. It was miraculously not cancelled because of rain; the rain mostly stopped before the game started and only a slight drizzle persisted (luckily we were sitting under cover, anyway). It was freezing, though. It was a very close game, but unfortunately the Mets came back in the bottom of the ninth and won. I was upset. I think it was the first time I've seen the Mets win at Shea Stadium (and I've been to my fair share of games). It was still fun to watch, though. A particularly entertaining moment was when a fan ran onto the field (how she got there is a mystery) and tried to hug Jose Reyes, who was on first base and started to run away from her. The security guards finally caught up to the girl and escorted her off the field, much to Reyes' relief. Here's Nic and I at the game (unfortunately I managed to cut the field out of the picture, but at least I got both of our heads. Note what a huge head I have):


Tonight I'm going to an advance screening of The Nanny Diaries. I'll post a review when I can. I'm afraid it won't be as good as the book (despite two of my favorite actresses, Scarlett Johansson and Laura Linney, being in the cast), but we'll see.