tja ~ in conclusion

i waited until today to write about my first impressions of school because i wanted to have gotten a feel for my student teaching placement. i'm glad i waited but it turns out that the placement situation could, and probably will, be many posts all on its own. but let's start from the top, shall we?

attending a large, highly respected university means there will be some bureaucracy, but also implies that to have become so highly respected there would have to have been some organization. i am sure that there are very organized people at this school, they just don't happen to run my program. in fact, the other half of this particular highly respected university's reputation is as a hippie, radical, non-conformist breeding ground. this more aptly describes my program. i'm sure the powers that be don't believe themselves frustratingly disorganized, rather, they are preparing us for the constant flux that is education. my "it is what it is" approach to preparing for school will serve me well, it seems, but it might also drive me up a wall.

first of all, i have wondered for a few months now where i would be teaching. it seems my cohorts (that's what we are officially called) and i have all been anxious about this, and feeling equally frustrated and uninformed. during orientation's 2 hour program break out session there is much discussion about the TB tests and liability insurance we must have in order to begin student teaching. then the questions begin: "what insurance? did you get a note about that?" and "if they require the teaching shouldn't they pay the insurance?" and "where the heck do i get a TB test? i just moved here on wednesday." we are all getting quite vocal but there is still an underlying calm. if they are just telling us about all this now, then we must not start teaching any time soon. wrong.

almost as an afterthought, indeed about 30 minutes until the end of orientation, the program coordinator says, "oh, i have your placements." there is a unified sigh of relief and buzz of curiosity in the room. we look over each others' shoulders for shared schools or grade levels. the excitement turns to stupor as we are informed that we must be present on the first day of school, having met all of the above requirements and more. plus we should have already met with our master teacher and our doctoral student supervisor to have a 3 way goal setting meeting, helped to set up the room, and gotten to know the secretaries, principal and custodians, all by the first day of school. "when is the first day of school?" we ask. "hmm, good question, i don't know" is the response. "let's look it up."

at this point i am rolling my eyes. the guy next to me is literally sweating through his shirt, and the girl on the other side of me is frantically taking notes labelled "goals".

of course - i should have seen this coming - monday is the first day of school for at least half of the class and we have orientation until 3:30. i don't start until tomorrow, which is good because i was able to get the insurance, take care of the meetings, and happened to find a valid tb test stuffed into a file in the guest room. other cohorts were not so lucky. one of them was given the wrong address and wound up at the wrong school, and another was informed that school started 3 weeks ago and they were expecting her all this time.

this brings me to the best part of the disorganization - yes, it gets better! with my new calm approach to life i decide to call my master teacher to set up our meeting. after a wicked game of phone tag i finally get ahold of her. i am new to the program, she is also new to the program, and my doctoral supervisor, lucky me, is also new. i am attempting to set up a meeting for three people who don't know what they are doing to discuss what we're going to do. excellent. "so what do you know so far?" the master teacher asks me. "i know your name, the school's phone number, and that you teach kindergarten," i reply. she's quiet for a moment. "so you don't know about the immersion?"

my heart flips in my ribcage. i am guessing she doesn't mean german immersion...

"immersion? um, no. what do you mean exactly?" i ask. "i teach 90% in spanish and 10% in english," she replies cheerfully. awesome. i don't speak spanish, and i noted that on my initial "student teaching questionnaire" so you can imagine my surprise. but i've got a new attitude, right? so i said, "okay, i'm pretty sure i can't teach a lesson in spanish, but i'm a fairly quick learner. if you don't expect me to do more than read a little book in spanish and then not discuss or analyze it in any way, we'll be just fine." she stated that reading a book would qualify as my having "taught a lesson" and so, as of tomorrow, i will be student teaching in spanish.

tja, for the foreseeable future, if you need me you can find me studying old high school spanish books, watching telemundo, and clawing desperately at my fleeting laid back attitude.