Today in the middle of new-hire training, the speaker stopped, paused, and looked at me thoughtfully. "You know," she said, "while I was creating this lesson, I thought of you."
Of course everyone in the room (maybe 40-50 people?) swivels around in their seats and stares at me like I've got leprosy.
"We're talking about body language today. When you walk into a room, you have to own it. Especially someone like you," she nodded her head towards me. "The students are going to walk in your classroom on the very first day and wonder where their teacher is. All they're going to see when they look at you is someone who looks just like them."
We all giggled at this point; she told us that she had dealt with the same problem in her early years of teaching. (She's almost forty now but she honestly barely looks like she's reached thirty. She's absolutely stunning.) Teachers were constantly yelling at her down the hallway, demanding to see her hall pass. They berated her for having a room key, which they assumed she'd stolen from a teacher. She described incident after incident in which she was mistaken for a kid--by both the student body AND the staff. And all of this, she elaborated, was coming my way.
You know what?
I'm not worried.
I've been on stage in front of hundreds of people. I've forgotten dance routines, flubbed lines, even tripped and started bleeding in front of hundreds of people. It's about presence. A toddler could walk up in front of a classroom and, if she had the confidence, teach a class full of high school juniors. It's all in the way you carry yourself; I understand that's the point she's trying to make, of course. But I am continually warned that the kids are going to try to eat me for breakfast. Maybe years of theatre has taught me to act more confident that you are. . .act like you know more than you do. . .and if you make a mistake, you roll with it. I've honestly started to believe that EVERY teacher should be required to take an intro to acting class. It has helped me immensely.
I thought that was just a funny little thing. I guess I'll let you know on the first day of school how the kids respond to me. To my knowledge, I should be teaching freshmen, and I'm at least seven years older than they are, so hopefully it won't be too problematic. If I can survive the seniors (who are only four years younger than I am), freshmen should be a breeze!
I'm just ready for school to start. I am stressed beyond belief. I just found out that a new state law requires English/Language Arts teachers to be ESL certified. I have until October first to study, take the $120 exam, pass it, and pay to have it added to my certifications. I also have to finish a Spirit course to become fully certified to teach my cheerleaders. AHH! When does it end? The notion that teachers get a summer off is complete myth; we spend the entire summer studying, testing, and attending trainings!
Anyways, I'm off to a sushi rolling class. More later!
Wow.
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