and it has begun

the teaching career has begun. yesterday i went to mhs and got my classroom and textbooks and the Keys to the Kingdom, a.k.a. my room and the outside doors to the school. not everybody gets the school key. i just have connections.

all i can say is, i'm glad i've got my aunt. i can't imagine moving to a new town and starting a job in a school where you don't know anybody (much applause to jess and katiek and anybody else reading this to whom the previous statement applies). i'm freaking out enough as it is. my aunt already introduced me to all the important people: the secretaries, the custodians, the guys in the vo-tech department who can fix your car and weld broken things, the assistant principal who can locate extra podiums and bookcases, the computer tzar who can make you a really long internet cable when you decide to move your desk all the way across the room because you'll freeze sitting next to the air conditioner, etc. my classroom is in a good location - near my parking space (vocational lot #25), near the library, near my cousin, and, most importantly, right next to the athletic director and the iss director, both of whom are very large men and both of whom will come to my rescue if i have any fights or serious behavior problems. unfortunately it's also right next to the girls smoking bathroom, and since i am the only female teacher at that end of the hall it's my job to bang on the door and yell "put 'em out" while i come stomping in. i spent today cleaning my room. it was a wreck. trash, old stuff, kids' notebooks from last semester, candy wrappers, an entire bag of 80s clothes (???), etc.

anyway, i'm having fun so far. but then again, i don't have any students yet. my cousin has a student nicknamed "coon dog". i only hope i have him too.