5. first week as professor mosher

Though this is my fourth year teaching (crazy, I know!), I still felt a little nervousness entering into my first week of school. Going in, I had insecurities about whether I would really fit in a Classical school environment, whether I could teach a senior level Environmental Science class well, and whether I could handle a full-time teaching load. I had also only met my supervisors up to this point, so I had no idea what my fellow faculty would be like. So many unknowns that are no longer unknown...

To begin, I'll talk about inservice. The mornings were boring, spent mostly discussing philosophical matters. I felt the faculty were way out of my league and that my educational philosophy did not align with the school's. I texted Daniel both days of inservice, saying I wanted to quit. Not a good start. Then, I began to interact with the faculty on a more one-on-one basis. It was amazing to me how different these people were when they were separated from the group. If it were not for those faculty conversations, I'm fairly certain I would have quit. One person, in particular, Cheree, struck a chord with me. We were both new and seemed to feel the same way about spending all our time discussing the theoretical. Turns out that her dad pastors the church we are attending, too. And she's a part of a local ministry to the community. And she is getting married in a month. So much to talk about. :) Several other faculty members this week have taken time to get to know both me and Daniel, asking real questions and expressing genuine excitement for us being a part of their family. Both Daniel and I really feel like we are a part of that community now, and we are grateful. The parents further exemplified this to me, as I joined with them in a scheduled prayer time on Tuesday morning and as I interacted with them at Convocation (school-wide welcome event) on Thursday evening. The prayer time was my favorite, because we broke into groups, one parent with a group of faculty, praying through different topics related to the new school year. It was so encouraging to me that this community that cares for me well also seeks the Lord intentionally together. I could go on and on about how much I love the people, but I will stop for now.

No I won't. I'll just shift my focus to the students. Thursday was the first day of school, and it was tiring! I have 1st and 2nd plan, 3rd study hall, 4th Environmental Science, 5th Physical Science, 6th Chemistry Lab (TR only), and 7th Chemistry. My planning time was spent running around like a crazy person, trying to make copies and get the supplies ready for my demonstrations. By Environmental Science, I finally had everything ready. These seniors were a little casual at first, but once I told them I expected them to enter class differently the next day, they got their acts together. Cambridge has a tradition where the students stand until the professor tells them to be seated, which I had considered unnecessary and over-the-top. Then, I saw the purpose... it really does change the mindset when you enter the classroom. It establishes focus and an atmosphere of respect. I like it and I am using it. :) I always have preselected seating charts done before the first day of class, where I eventually disperse the guys and girls (they tend to get too chatty when either are all together). My Environmental Science guys turned out to be very talkative, and the girls are quiet. They all seem to be excited about the material and willing to work hard. One of the girls asked if I was willing to help students prepare for the AP test. Let me think, students asking to work harder... yes, please! I did not have a demo that I felt was relevant to this class, so I gave them each a flower, while we discussed its significance to Environmental Science. Daniel was sweet enough to get the flowers during 1st period while I was at school doing other things. When he brought them to me, everyone thought he was being sweet, which he was, but they did not know the reason he brought them. I'm pretty sure it put pressure on the other male faculty, though. :)

After lunch, I had Physical Science, which is my first middle school class ever. Those kids are sweet and cute, but also talkative and energetic. I have to find ways to keep them entertained and engaged or else there will be chaos. They all seem to love science, and I hope to grow that love in them more. I am already noticing, though, the disparity between students' academic abilities. Friday, one student in particular seemed bored at the end of class, when he had finished before the others. I might have to make it a little more challenging for him next week! Not a bad problem to have either! My first day with them, I did various demos with a coke can. I let them participate, and I think they really enjoyed that. I learned that almost every single student had been out of the country in 8th grade, some had already been to 5, and even 7! I also learned that these kids were picking on each other in subtle ways. I put an end to that the first day, and I hope through that, the kids who were picked on know that I have their back.

Chemistry on Thursday was both 6th and 7th period, because of lab. That is a long time to have kids who have already suffered through a whole day of syllabus talk. I decided to do the gummy bears and potassium chlorate experiment with them, to add a wow factor. Look it up on YouTube if you haven't seen it. They enjoyed that, and they also seemed to enjoy each other. This is by far my most social class. I called the girls out for being chatty the first day, and they were definitely better by Friday. It also helps that I jumped right into material on the second day rather than using it for another intro day. These kids seem to have a lot of background knowledge and also seem to like science. I am so thankful for both of these things. The first chapter is elementary, but I hope to challenge them this next week as we get into more detailed concepts. It's so strange that in all my classes I am having to up the difficulty level. This year will grow me as a teacher for sure.

Back to the week generally... Friday was much easier than Thursday. Next week will be even smoother, as the kids get used to their routines. I am trying this new system that I am really excited about, using personal student folders. I put everything the students need in their folders before class. They pick up their folders and place their homework in it from the night before, all before class starts. This way, there is no question about whether homework is due at the beginning or end of class. And, I don't have to waste time passing out papers. It does take effort for me to put everything in the folders, but that seems a small price to pay for more class time. :) Now let's talk about dress code. The girls have specific uniform shoes, socks, skirts, and shirts. The boys have specific shirts and pants. The seniors are issued blazers. I love this (and I didn't think I would). There is no pushing the limits with shirts untucked or off-colored undershirts. So nice. The faculty is expected to dress professionally as well, men wearing ties (and coats) and women wearing something comparable. Over the summer, Daniel and I found great sales on suit jackets for me, so I have been wearing suits to school (yes, in 105 degree weather). It actually seems to give me more confidence and helps the students view me as someone who looks older than 18.

My biggest challenge in these next few weeks will be upping my content knowledge of Environmental Science topics and balancing my teaching schedule with my nannying job, which begins next week (Monday through Friday from 4:30 to 6:30). I wanted to be able to provide enough for Daniel and I to live on, so that he could focus solely on school. This still may not work, but the nannying money will definitely help. We are still learning that God provides exactly what we need, as we have seen it happen all summer long. This post has been very Jill-focused, so I will add a little bit about Daniel. He has finished up nannying for our other family this week. We had so much fun with these kids, so it is sad to part ways. He did such a great job creatively entertaining them. I have so much I can learn from him. He has also been very supportive of my teaching endeavor. Not only did he bring my supplies to school for me Thursday, but he also came to Convocation with me, and he willingly built relationships with my co-workers. He has also agreed to join me as a chaperone for our school's college trip in October. We will be flying to South Carolina, visiting various schools, and as chaperones, it is free for us! This seems an appropriate time to address traveling back home, as well. Sadly, we have realized we will have less time off together than we thought. We have one week off together for Thanksgiving and one week off together for Christmas. We still plan to come home for at least one of these, but it will be a little rushed. We were really hoping for two weeks, which, as it turns out, we both have... just, they are different weeks. Bummer! The other bummer is that Daniel has been really sick the past few days, coughing and oozing out snot. He seems to be on the recovering end, and I have only had a couple of coughs, so we are trying to rest a lot this weekend to fight it off.

Since I have written a novel, I am going to end there. I am excited about next week, and Daniel, I know, is excited about the week after when he starts class.

4. the events of august

As our last month of summer begins, the pace begins to quicken as well. The last two weeks have been quite full. Here’s a quick summary, after which I will expound upon each event:

1. Jill and I got paid to watch TV at someone else’s house.

2. I employed a homeless man.

3. I interviewed for 2 jobs myself.

4. A dog’s passing enabled Jill and I to attend baby showers in Amarillo.

5. Jill and I endured a day of 109 degrees for 108 free meals.

Now for the longer version:

1. We have only nannied for the other family once (the night after the last blog post), but it was enjoyable. They have a daughter going into kindergarten and a son going into third, so the kids are a bit younger than the others that we keep. That evening, after the parents left on their date, we ate pizza with the kids while watching some of their favorite shows on TV. After about an hour or so, however, it was already their bedtime. Once we’d put them to bed, we still had another two hours before the parents returned, so Jill and I found a movie on TV to watch together, occasionally checking in on the kiddos to make sure they were actually in bed. Oh, the perks of nannying!

2. A few Sundays ago, I went to a nearby gas station to fill up our car and rent a movie from a redbox kiosk. It’d been a little while since our car had been washed, and apparently somebody noticed. It wasn’t long after I started pumping gas that I heard somebody cleaning off my windshield. I turned around to see a homeless man squeegeeing the windows of my car, and since I wasn’t going anywhere, I let him. He talked the whole time, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying. The only thing I know I heard was something about sparing whatever change I could. Unfortunately, all the change I had in the car was pennies and nickels, so once we’d both finished our respective tasks I told him that I’d run inside and get some change. I got $20 out of the ATM inside and bought a bottled water to break it. When I walked out, he was standing nearby waiting. After giving him a few dollars and the water, he asked me if he could pray with me, and he did. I couldn’t make out much of what he said in the prayer, either—except for the words “thank you”—but he wasn’t talking to me anyway. After that, he walked off with his cash and water, and I returned to the car with a humble awareness of what one can encounter in the city.

3. Since our last post, I’ve had two interviews for part-time jobs, both of which are in the DTS media department. One is a video editing position (which is my first choice, if I get to choose), and the other is an audiovisual technician position (doing sound/projectors for chapel, etc.). After the interviews, I chuckled to realize that both employers commented on my e-mail address, “bumbleb,” and one even gave me the friendly advice to change it in the future. It’s an address I’ve used since high school, derived from my clowning name, “Bumblebee,” and it probably is a bit outdated (even though the other employer thought it was a Transformers reference). Regardless, I enjoyed meeting the staff and I’m sure I’ll see more of them whether or not I get one of the jobs. I also enjoyed getting to see the behind-the-scenes of the DTS media areas. It reminded me a lot of my work with media in college—and how much I love such work.

4. You might be wondering how a dog’s demise could possibly be related to a trip to Amarillo. Well, the dog belonged to the second family we’re nannying for. The original plan when we met this family was that we were going to house-sit for them while they were gone on a week of vacation, taking care of their elderly dog. For the weekend of August 5^th, Jill was also planning on driving up to Amarillo for her good friend Jessica’s baby shower while I remained at the house, dog-sitting. Unfortunately the dog, which had already endured a brain-illness for sometime, worsened to the point that they had to put her down the Wednesday before we were to dog-sit. Thus with no dog to dog-sit, we were not needed. This meant that I got to accompany Jill to Amarillo for the weekend.

The journey to the panhandle was beautiful. After getting out of the DFW area, I finally got to see the authentic Texas plains I had expected when I came. On either side of the highway, yellow fields stretched in either direction for miles, eventually surrendering to the huge, cloud-dappled sky that was as blue as a cowboy’s worn-out jeans. Train tracks paralleled the road, occasionally inhabited by engines pulling walls of train cars across the wide-expanses. As we drove, we began to see red or grey pillars in the distance. We at first thought they were smoke columns from something burning, but the more we saw, the more we realized that what we were seeing were, in fact, dust devils in the distance [If you look closely at the above picture, you can see one]. We also saw fields speckled with oil-rigs, which look just as spooky and alien in person as they do in pictures.

The weekend was as fun as the trip was scenic. Jill and I got to enjoy the company of Jessica and Aaron Tudyk, whom we hadn’t seen in Canyon, TX (their hometown, just outside Amarillo) since their wedding two years ago. It was the first time here in Texas that I felt the feeling of having a kind of family to visit. We stayed the weekend with the Tudyks, visiting craft stores (in preparations for the baby showers), eating local cuisine, and walking together in the park at sunset. On Saturday, we saw a different kind of shower than the baby-kind we had come for: it rained! Around lunch water fell from the sky, and lightning in the evening distance foretold a night of scattered storms that left puddles by morning.

After the showers took place on Sunday (the actual baby showers—one at church, and another at someone’s house), Jill and I made the 6-hour journey back to Dallas with the yellow sun setting behind us. By the time we got back, it was dark. As the road took us by the illuminated skyscrapers of Dallas, Jill and I felt the feeling of being “home” for the first time—that relief that comes over you when you near your driveway after a long trip, and know that in a few minutes you’ll get to sleep in your own cozy bed. The relief was real. The driveway was welcoming. The bed was cozy. It’s good to be home.

Check back soon for the details of Event #5—our sweltering Chick-Fil-A-dventure II.