tedious prep

Yesterday morning, I spent the morning in New Employee Orientation. I'm not sure what we were being oriented to, but we sure did fill out a pile of papers. A person cannot have more life insurance on their spouse than they have on themselves. Never be more valuable dead than alive. I signed up my medical insurance and found out more about lateral entry. I didn't have all the papers, so the county is postponing mailing my file to the State DPI. The DPI charges me $85 to process my file and if I were to send any items in later an additional $55. I'm guessing the $55 is punitive in order to encourage sending a complete packet. But, getting forms from Vancouver, Japan, DC, Boone and etc. is proving an additional challenge to my already challenging circumstances. Yippee. Yay, stress!

And, today irked me. I went into my classroom that the other teacher had finally vacated (8 work days before the students come. Five of which I'm in all day meetings). It was disgusting and he had left a ton of crap "in case I might be able to use it." Nobody's going to use this crap. I felt used and patronized in the whole fiasco. But, I chatted with my mom and she encouraged me to let it go because I work for the kids-- let the bastards be bastards. She said if I worked myself up, I'd take away from what I had to offer them. She's right. My options are: I could confront the teacher, but I'm going to have to work with him for at least a year. What bothers me is that he's aware of what he did; he keeps making excuses and saying things like "it's part of the job" in reference to me throwing away the crap and cleaning things that don't look like they've been cleaned in years. I could say something to the principal but that would be perceived as whining. Or, I could move on, be a big girl and quote my sister, "it is what it is."

At least, I'm not teamed with this guy. At least, I'm not in a trailer. At least, I have some materials with which to work. And, I worked hard and have little to show, but I did meet my mentor who is helpful. I've spent time with the three janitors and know their names.

I met three potential students! They were riding their bikes through the parking lot as I walked to the entrance.
I waved and said, "Hello."
They asked in unison, "Are you a new teacher?"
I answered, "What do you think?"
They smiled and said, "Yes. What grade do you teach?"
"Seventh. What grade are you in?"

Then we chatted sports and Olympics. They were none to impressed with what the male gymnasts wore. I pointed out if they wore more loose clothes that would be problematic. They were pleasantly punkish. Irreverant and chatty. So, these boys are who I'm working with and who I'm working for when all is said and done. The tedious annoyances are worth it.

And, it looks as though I'm going to get the novel set I want: Tale of Despereaux.