3 posts tagged “belzoni”

That's how the phone call ended....

I was just visited by some of my students at my house. They definitely caught me off-guard and wanted to do everything under the sun (i.e. "can we come inside?," "can you fix us something to eat?," "can we move into one of yo bedrooms?") but I appreciated their visit nonetheless. It's nice to see them outside of school. I think this is one of the reasons why I wanted to live in the same town I taught in. I hope they see me as a community member and not just a guy who *gives* them low grades. Cool....

In the spirit of Ms.Mayo's mid-9 weeks reflection, I think I'll just offer a fraction of her insight into my own first month and some change in one of the toughest professions known to humankind.

First, the good. I love my students. For real, for real. I do. Even the ones that threaten to "thump" me (meaning beat me up) and roll their eyes every time I open my mouth as if my class is akin to Middle Ages-era physical torture. I feel a personal identification with them that I can't begin to fully describe. It's based on more overt similarities between myself and my students along the lines of race, age, and geographic location though it's also based on less well-known attributes my students and I share(d) at one point or another along the lines of class, musical interests, and political leanings. Another good thing: I love the Delta. I love my small town that's less populous than my high school in Jersey.

I love the fact that I'm know by my first name or last name by people like the owner of my favorite clothing store in town, the superintendent of my district, the cab driver/tour guide in town, and others. I love the pace of things out here and the friendly folk I meet every day. I love the bountiful catfish that the Delta offers at myriad restaurants that dot highways and byways across this region. It's a beautiful thing. A final good thing: I'm getting better at what I do. I'm constantly getting papers back to students quicker. I'm constantly thinking up new ways to address what could have once been considered trite curriculum. I'm constantly working my students' IEPs into my lesson plans more and more and addressing the various intelligences of my students better and better. That's really wassup.

Secondly, the not so good. The feelings that I'm becoming more of an autocrat than I'd like to be. On some level, I definitely know that my students realize that Mr. Amutah's discipline policy is not nearly as strict as Ms.So-and-so or Mr.What's his name. I don't want to be a teacher that my students cower in fear from. Fear is stronger than love, or so it's been said, but I definitely find myself going for love despite my advice to others. I have to figure out how make the switch to no being so much of a pushover in certain situations but still maintaining the respect/cooperation of my students without constantly sending them out of my classroom or paddling them (I haven't done the latter...yet).

Also not so good: my ability to "leave school work at school." I don't. I work. A lot. I'm a first person in, last person out type of teacher right now. I usually get to my school around 7 a.m. and stay until 5:30/6 p.m. when our custodians are surprised to see me coming down the long, dark hallway from my class and say, "Oh, I didn't even know you were still here." After I get home I usually have an hour of downtime (meaning eat, change clothes, fix up my house or something) and then I work for numerous more hours at home lesson planning, grading papers, etc. On many nights I've done a little work after getting home then eaten a big dinner--usually my only real meal of the day--and go to bed around 8/9/10 p.m. after setting my alarm for 3/4/5 a.m. so I can get up and work some more. Not cool. My communication with loved ones back in the northeast from D.C. (big sis) to Philly (lil sis) to Jersey (mom, brothers) to Boston (wifey) has suffered in light of this grind.

Still, I'm here...

Day 3...2000 hours....

I finally have a job. I'm gong to Belzoni, Mississippi where I'll be teaching world history, US history, and Mississippi studies at Humphreys County High School. I like my administrators and I'm going in tomorrow to check out my classroom and the textbooks I'll be working with. Exciting stuff.

I still lack a driver's license though which makes me much less able to get settled or to explore the Delta. Also, finding housing here has been tougher than I anticipated. It seems like most of the people with available real estate are looking solely for buyers for their homes...not renters. We'll see what I can workout. I have a few prospects in the work.

I have to wait until after the 14th of August to teach, however, since the school board has to approve my employment and they don't meet until then. School here in Belzoni starts next week. I guess this means I have nearly two more weeks of "nothing" to do (outside of coursework for my Ole Miss classes, learning to drive, securing housing, furnishing that housing, etc.).

Right now I'm in a Burger King in Indianola. It has wireless internet. Thus, my outside communication with the world. More later...