First days of school- Just got back from my 2nd day at Bret Harte Middle School... my tenure there has been a monument to TFA and LAUSD brilliance. Let's go back a few days, shall we, to last Friday. Jim comes back from the TFA office with a school name, address, and instructions to show up there on Tuesday at 7:30. I was jumping at straws at that point, having been totally without a job, and only one interview (up against 2 bilingual TFAistas to boot) that I didn't get a job from. So I figure I'll head down, meet the principal, and see what's in store for me. Now, the memo I got didn't specify WHICH Bret Harte school I'm headed to, so I look in my trusty Thomas's guide to LA, and find Bret Harte school in Burbank. Fucking Burbank?!? An hour and a half away on a good day!? Needless to say, I was somewhat less than ecstatic about that option. Had the alarm clock set for 5:00am and everything, and at midnight prior to the appointed day, figured out that it might be another school. Called up the phone number, and got the recorded message saying Bret Harte Middle School... Middle School? hmm... I didn't even like myself in middle school, much less other kids. Oh well, so reset the alarm for drive-to-Inglewood-not-Burbank time (5:45) and went to bed.

Next day, up and at-em, fired up, show up at the school (a nice 10 minute commute on the 105-how-i-loooove-thee-Freeway) get to the school, talk to Principal K. and realize... wait for it... that they have no idea who I am and what the hell I'm doin there. Lovely. So, quite nicely, instead of asking me to get off the grounds, calling the police, or whatnot, they interpret my explanations as something about "Teachers of America" and decide to let me observe. A bit into the observation, somebody rushes into the room, shouting that "This class hasn't had a teacher there for 40 minutes!!" and once more into the breach I go, my friends.

Anyway, I babysat that class for about half an hour, until the teacher returned from inexplicable absence and then went down to see the principal again. Taking me seriously now (after I answered an emphatic yes to the "so you're a real teacher?" question) he called somebody at human resources, determined that I was indeed hired by the district, and allowed me to talk him into giving me the recently vacated 7th grade social studies gig. So, I rolled into that class, aided by a sub who had taught the class before, and got all set up, and started teaching that day, 4th period. Things went pretty well until my last period class, where I had to move one kid for talking, then he insults a girl in class, for which I called him onto the carpet. A couple minutes later he was about to swing at another kid. So my first day of school ends with me diving between two 3' tall 11year olds and preventing punches. Lovely.