"These kids are in trouble...we're on our way!"

We rode the bus in almost silence yesterday morning on the way to Agua Fria...the only interruption was my friend Leah playing "Peaches and Cream" and shouting "These kids are in trouble...we're on our way!"

So there I am, walking into J4 at Agua Fria, about to embark on the adventure that will be my new career, with no idea really what to do or what to expect.

I guess that's not completely fair; I did have two weeks of intense training before coming into the classroom. But no amount of theory can prepare one for that first day, and so it was with me.

But I was incredibly excited. I hadn't been able to sleep the the night before, even though I was legit exhausted; I was just too too excited. We set up our classroom in the first hour; our theme is "Summer Success Super Stars", so we have a "Star Chart" for rules and consequences and our class rewards are "Starbucks" haha clever, get it? A little corny, but hopefully the kids will buy into it. We want to send the message that to be a "Super Star" like their heroes, they need to succeed in Summer Success, then in high school, then in college, and then down the road. It's a stretch, but just getting some encouragement and simply telling these kids they can succeed is really paying off.

I am an afternoon teacher, so I had a planning session before I actually taught. I couldn't concentrate at all...there was just too much to think about. But there we go, at 9:25 AM, it was my turn to start...

"Good morning y'all! My name is Mr. Boyle and I will be one of your English teachers this summer..." (I'm loving the new "teacher name" I have acquired...we all have to refer to each other by these names during the day, and it's super fun, but actually a challenge to keep everyone's last name straight)

We presented our class rules...getting these kids to participate was like pulling teeth. Literally, no one would talk. But one inspiring moment was when our kids shared their answers to a survey we gave them as a get-to-know-you activity on who their heroes were. It was really interesting to see what these kids have been through, and what I was up against.

Jimmy's heroes were his father and "hot nurses". Sounds funny, and kids laughed (don't worry, I set them straight and they shut up - we have a very very well-behaved classroom), but turns out that Jimmy had cancer last year and beat it and now is looking forward to high school.

Jonathan's hero is his mother. Why? For getting him out of "gang life". He has a gang symbol tatooed on his left hand and scored a 28% on our reading assessment.

Jose's mother lost a hand in a factory accident; Jared's brother has severe asthma and has attempted suicide a few times. It's humbling to work with these kids who have been through so much and try my best to help them overcome their struggles and work towards giving them better opportunities through a better education.

And then there's Melissa, who thinks she is way too cool for school and refuses to participate in any activities and wears a Bump-It in her hair. In fact, kids in general in Arizona dress a LOT different than kids at Towson High where I went to school in Baltimore. I saw no Polo, Lacoste, Sperrys, Rainbows, or college apparel - these were staples in my high school. There was a lot of makeup on the girls, who all looked ridiculous with their big hair and first-time attempts at eyeliner; there was a lot of skater or hipster clothes on the guys, who look equally ludicrous.

So the first day went pretty smoothly, considering all I did was getting-to-know-you games and give a test.

The second day is what I consider to be my actual first day as a teacher. I barely slept the night before, because of the two rough draft lesson plans I had due Tuesday morning, and I slept through breakfast. And I was a complete ball of nerves when it was time for my lesson.

The objective was a simple one: figuring out the meanings of new words via context clues. I think I learned how to do this in 3rd grade; apparently my kids did, too, because they all got a 100% on that question on the pre-assessment. So, in a way, it was a great thing for me to start on, since it wouldn't be too challenging of an objective.

Uh oh. My lesson called for the use of an overhead projector, and of course J4 doesn't have a working projector. Panic attack!

So I just stole one from J5. A teacher's motto is "beg, borrow, and steal".

The lesson went really well. No curveball questions, although most of the kids were done really early, so I felt like a fool when they told me it was an easy lesson. But I had this whole big schtick about the kids being detectives searching for the meanings of unknown words, and I think they bought it enough.

And then I graded the assessments - 97% mastery of the objective. YESSSS!!!!!!!

So those were the first two days of my new career; so much went on, and it seems like it was already so long ago, that I am sure I didn't include all of it here. But smooth sailing thus far.

peace and love from the grand canyon state,

pb