So...what's been going on?

I go back to work as a teacher on Tuesday, but students don't come back until the following Monday, so I have just a little more time before all hell breaks loose in my life. I've done some (read: very little) lesson planning over the summer and hope that the kids enjoy the stuff that I do have planned for them. I also got trained to teach AP World History this summer, which changed my ENTIRE outlook on teaching!! It was AWESOME!!!! and I got about $600-$700 worth of textbooks and primary resource books from that as well! :D It made me squeel with excitement and drool in general.

As for DCPS, who knows what is going on. The union and the district have been in contract negotiations for forever it seems and aren't getting anywhere because the superintendent/chancellor Rhee wants to get rid of seniority and tenure so that she can boot out the bad teachers and the union is digging in their heels. The proposed contract looks GREAT in my opinion though because it would put everyone on a probationary year and get rid of them if they aren't doing their jobs AND pays a LOT of money...like, 55000 for this coming school year, a lot of money. I'm rooting for it.

My school itself is undergoing a temporary move while the old building is knocked down and a new one built. So for the next few years (2 on paper, who knows how many in real life), we're going to be in a building that was an open-space school and has temporary walls. We've also got a new principal, who, in my very brief, one-email-exchange contact, seems like he knows generally what he's doing and might actually shape the place up. I'm hopeful. But because of all the changes with the move and the new administration (and oh, 10th grade teachers are now part of a team and we'll be actually collaborating, and oh, the school is now full-inclusion), it makes it hard to know what to expect and therefore, to plan. I know just enough to make me want to plan stuff, but not enough to know whether or not those plans will actually be used.