Congratulations to Jed and Jade

Booze & Schmooze

Tonight I went to the B&B down the road for an event they were having with for the Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club. The owners of the B&B are great friends to us TFAers, they always invite us to everything so we can meet as many community members as possible. Several of us were able to make it tonight and it was a good time. My face is a little tired from smiling at so many strangers, but it was good. Plus, one of the regulars got me a drink- it pays to be one of the new young teachers in town. Found out there's a big group of retired teachers in the area, and some of them might be interested in tutoring, which would be great.

Not sure if I already blogged about this- but Thursday night the B&B is the place to be for the people with money around here. This was a special event, so it was more crowded than usual. Crowded as in maybe 20 people. This takes place on their back screened-in porch, with wicker furniture and white stringed lights. Most of the people are in their 60s, so it was obvious who the new teachers in town are. Oh man, I can't believe this is my life right now, but it's good.

Pictures of my students! (stolen from another teacher, I'll take my own soon)

The entrance to our little school

With Mr. Guard the AP, greeting parents and students at the Hope Plantation

Colin gets things started at the meet & greet

Tulina, April, Ebone'

Cierra, Dwayne, Tyreece, Jocelyn, Jamesha

Keyonna, Kenneth, Brittany, Candace, Davis, Khalia

Adam, Dustin, Michael, Chris, Leanna, and Jackiel

Standing, there's Dwayne, Jocelyn, Jamesha, Tyreece, Tulina, and Cierra

Meeting the Parents..

..of my students, that is. Tonight we had a meet and greet for students and families at the Hope Plantation, literally across the peanut field from my school. I was a bit weirded out that we were having it there, since we have about a 90% African-American student body, but realized would just have to get over it, and chose to think of it as empowering instead. And as it turned out we were in the visitors center anyway, not the main house, so it wasn't as odd. The FFA officers from last year spoke, and did a great job. My school has an agricultural and bio-sciences focus, so FFA is a big thing. I don't teach any of the current FFA officers because they're all sophomores, but some of them come in at lunch and talk to me so I know them a bit.

I love teaching at a small school, you really get to know the students. It's funny, cause as a student I hated small schools, and now its the complete opposite, it makes my job so much better. Some of my freshmen spoke too, and it was great to see them speaking in front of a group like that, I was so proud. I'm just sad I forgot to bring my camera to document the moment, but some of the other staff were on top of it. The superintendent was also there, and gave the school and us teachers lots of glowing praise. I don't think I ever knew the name of my superintendent in high school, let alone knew what they looked like, but Dr. Z is in our school all the time and an all around great guy. Our school is looking to be a model for the state, so we have high expectations to live up to. But based on what I've seen from my students so far, they can do it.

Guns!

Cashie Wetlands Walk

This beautiful little trail is 2 minutes from our plantation house. I love it!

The Exciting Metropolis of Windsor, NC!

I've permanently moved in to the big plantation house, in the room I posted a picture of before. I just got my mattress delivered today so it's starting to look more like a bedroom and less like a parlor. Here are some pictures from the town, including one from the football game. Enjoy!

I Heart my Job

First full week of teaching over, and I couldn't be happier. I'm at Bertie Early College High School, and I think I may have lucked out with the best high school in the region. It's a new program, only the 2nd year, so we only have 51 kids in the entire school. I teach English to all the freshmen, and I love it! I am totally nerding out about teaching high school kids one of my favorite subjects, and to try to get them interested in reading and writing. I gave them a quiz today, and they rocked it, only 2 failed and those are students with learning disabilities whose IEPs we haven't received, so we are in the dark about what accommodations they need. My students participate and are engaged for the most part, or as much as you can expect from HS kids. Some of them still whine about having homework every night, but they'll live. All of the classes here are honors classes so they just have to get used to the workload.

Yesterday I had a complete after-school special moment. They are reading the first chapter of Black Boy (which is great, I'm just reading it now for the first time) and most of them are really getting into it. While they were reading part of it in class, a girl said, "Ms. Pennell, I want to say something. I really like this book, and I'm glad we're reading it, because reading about all that he went through makes me appreciate what I have." I felt like there should have been a noise, like the ones that happen in fairy tales from a magic wand. Golden!

Student Hieroglyphics

This is day 3 of my first full of week of teaching, and so far it's going well. The students whine a bit about all the reading and writing I'm having them do, but they'll get over it. And if not, I can remind them of the application they signed to come to this school which says if they choose not to complete all assignments on time, they can be dismissed. Snap!

Anyway, I picked up a note one of the girls was writing, and was very perplexed upon first read. It looks exactly like this, except she puts circles instead of dots on her "I's:"

Ain't drivers ed gon' b3 abxut xnd@ s@m3 d@yz y@'ll got cheel3@d!ng pr@ct!c3.

Um... wow. I hope I don't get papers that look like this. But, I do hope that they put the same amount of effort and creativity into them.

******* UPDATE*********

Have found out from my teacher friends that substituting a 3 for an E is to show loyalty for the crips! Yikes!