Teacher day one at Summit.

Wow, gotta write my reflections on my first day at work before I have new experiences to write with the students arriving tmoz. It was first day back for teachers. School is great. Laura collected me at 7am with John who is also part of the car pool and we headed off down Federal Boulevard out of the city into the MOUNTAINS! Fabulous vista of snow capped mountains as far as the eye could see. Lots of ice piles left on the roads and piles of snow on the sides of the roads. i was watching carefully trying to imagine driving on the other side of the road and car! Then we hit the highway - not sure what number - betta get that at some stage! Great chatting to two new people - teachers too (we talk the same language somehow!) as Laura guided us along the highway, through a couple of exits. We spotted a mini-van propped on a 45% angle on some snow with its hazard lights on, a ute with its driver walking back across a bridge looking for something that might have blown out.... the wind is building and at times buffeting the car, blowing ice and snow over the road and car. "This is not normal for Denver Niccy! Ha!" I heard SOOO many times. John and Laura are astounded by the 2m wall of snow piled up around the carpark - I couldn't see the school til we got around it. The Principal jokes about crossing duty being cancelled cause the crossing is COVERED in snow! Some deal with public building having to clear areas by law. The grounds people Gene & Gill who are introduced and celebrated by the whole staff have worked 75 hour weeks to manage everything! Lisa the Principal invites me up to introduce myself - man was I nervous - at one stage Dudley had been bitten by a scorpio not a scorpion! Lisa prompted me with questions about my city, school and my special pal. Phew that was over - made things easier with introductions throughout the day though, less repeating. wish I had gone after the disaster stories, family celebrations, heroic deeds - one womans house had flooded and she had saved a collapsed lady in the street in the 2 weeks break! Seems quite relaxed and homely sort of staff. Manageable. Met tons of Debbies - mainly the computer techie who was WONDERFUL and solved every nuance related to being a new teacher arriving in the middle of the year from another country!
The facilities are great - like a big hotel complex with carpeted floors etc, my room is lovely with a class full of Macs, smart board, projector to begin. Met the corridor of nearby people - Woody with a three week old cold, who's Father was one of two from 6998 to survive his town of Kobryn's annihilation at a concentration camp. He celebrated this feat and remembers this tragedy with a massive shoe collection! http://www.jewishcolorado.org/content_display.html?ArticleID=196074 The most important neighbour - my department head, was Beth with her Firefighter husband who manoeuvred her HUGH Hummer tank in and out and OVER piles of snow and ice to deliver a gang of girls for lunch at the nearby mall. Lovely girls who asked questions and inquired about my welfare and made suggestions for surviving the Colorado weather. Another to also offer a bed in her nearby home if the weather prevented returning to the city!
Meanwhile I was shown the gradebook software and printed photo charts of my classes. 5 groups under 30 - one group only 18. I Yr 7 study of cultures group, 1 Art technology - Digital focus class and two design/technology classes and the yearbook class. sounds like a pretty moderate environment with fairly compliant adolescents. Big news was the CSAP test - three weeks for 2 hours every morning - a national exam. ewww! intense. effects the schools rating and public perceptions.
The other interesting slant was that parents have access to their students grades online any time. The data I enter is on a database. that requires diligence!
Well betta sleep off my restless night last night.
The rest of the day included the all important photocopying - Xeroxing in the US thankyou and meeting loads more people - heaps of science teachers, the band teacher, learning about Spanish speaking America from the Spanish teacher Loupie, the nuances of the Summit Ridge student from Ben. A magnificent welcome to an exciting year teaching in America! Thanks Summit Ridge!