So school starts a week from Wednesday. Still not sure exactly how many students will walk through my door on Sept. 9, but it's likely going to be a day filled with excitement, anxiety, smiles, knots-in-stomach, and some chaos. This is my schedule (but likely to change a number of times... I guess that's how public education typically works):
2nd- 10th grade honors (will have about half of the freshmen I had last year!!)
3rd- 10th grade "collaborative team teaching" (not exactly sure what it entails, as no one in my school really knows either)
7th- 11th grade self contained (I was told that since I am organized and "have a lot of energy" I was assigned this class.)
8th- 1oth grade
9th- 10th grade
Tomorrow we pack up and depart Harlem for the Upper East Side. Although I am excited to leave my neighborhood (which so often marked by poverty, desolation, garbage, anger), I have to say I will miss it. I find myself randomly smiling here. Watching the kids running around playing on the street... Hearing the bookie in our building say, "Hey teach, how ya doin' teach?" every morning... I will miss these little things that bring genuine smiles to my face. I refuse to allow the few negative experiences overshadow the positive ones.
This morning, after grabbing my usual bodega coffee, I started walking up the stairs because our elevator is broken (surprise, surprise). I noticed an 80-something woman struggling against the railing. I asked her if I could lend her a hand, she said "oh yes, please, honey," (almost as if she was surprised I offered to help), so I gladly took her arm and walked her up to the 4th floor. The look on her face when we parted made my day. A simple gesture-- reaching out to another in need-- helped brighten her morning and mine.
And now, it's time to pack, box up my life here at 115th and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd., head to a new place, a new neighborhood to explore.
No comments:
Post a Comment