I finally found a position at a school in Crown Heights, Brooklyn - one of the few places you'll probably see Chasidim and African Americans in the same neighborhood...I will be teaching a self-contained 7th grade class...I saw my classroom a couple days ago and reality began to sink in. At least I haven't started to panic - not yet. Not when I looked on my list and saw most of my students are boys...or when another teacher mused "everyone knows who those kids are" - something I'm not a terribly big fan of; I'd rather not go into class the first day with the preconception that all these kids are bad.
I feel like I'm in a stolen season of a couple weeks, where anything is possible, before we all show up the first day of school and I may or may not still believe that. It's like the time between getting asked out and actually going on the date - you play out all scenarios in your head of what could happen and hope for the best. I may sounds idealistic, but I don't think you could become a Fellow without some idealism.
Now that I'm part of a bona fide staff and know where I'm going to be, I can enjoy my stolen season and see where this path takes me.
