There have been countless surprises that have come with my new job: the sheer madness of navigating a giant and inefficient bureaucracy, the racoons that have infested the science wing and poke their heads in to say hello during class...but I'm most surprised at the undeserved reputation that my school has in this district.
I was talking to an assistant principal about what people say when you tell them you got a job at Travis. "Oh, Lake Travis? Great!" "No, William B. Travis. On Oltorf." "Oh....They say that's a really bad school."
In fact, that's all I've heard from anybody since I got the job. (Save for my close family and friends, who, even if they were thinking it would never say it.) The AP that I was talking to said she has lost many friends over the years, because she got really tired of people constantly putting down the students she cared so much about.
I've been at training sessions and overheard teachers from other schools in the district talking some serious smack about us (students AND teachers). During the live feed "welcome back" speech from the superintendent, we were the only high school that wasn't even mentioned.
So on the first day of class, I expected some serious behavior problems. Gangs. Drugs. Violence.
What I got was 150 students who are....completely normal teenagers. Except they have the added burden of being a poor minority. They're funny, inquisitive, smart, and completely loveable. Are they struggling? Yes. I have a handful of students that don't speak any English. I have three that are about to give birth and two that just have. I have kids who work until 2 in the morning and can't stay awake through class. But they're fabulous. Every single one of them.
So who is "they"? They keep saying how horrible our school is, but I would like for them to come in my classroom and make that argument. It's not fair to the kids.
Yesterday two girls were peeking in the door to say hi to a friend. When I went over to see what they were doing this is the exchange I had:
"Miss, are you new?"
"Yes! This is my first year teaching."
"Do you like it here?"
"Of course!"
"No you don't. What is there to like about it?"
"I love my students. They're great and they make me laugh."
"Are you serious? Everybody knows the kids at Travis are all bad."
I again told them how happy I was to be there, and one of the girls said "So what class is this anyway? Is it too late to sign up? You're pretty cool."
:)
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