First Day

First Day of work. First time wearing makeup since I left California. I really should have tried on these pants last night and loosened them up a bit...update later.

It was a district wide inservice which was very impressive. The inspiring keynote speaker, Dr. Steve Edwards focused on helping students achieve and reducing dropout rates by making sure we provide education that is meaningful to the child, not just producing test scores. Basically it came down to providing students with leadership roles and varying instruction technique to cater to different types of intelligences. And of course, collaboration of the educational team. There were also short intros from the School Board President (teacher here for over 30 yrs) and Superintendent, who highly values the use of technology in education. I can't tell you how happy I am about that. Breakout sessions were all about technology (Smartboards! Using Digital Storytelling! Integration of technology in Curriculum! Google Apps! I'm using lots of !'s because I'm so excited to be part of a forward thinking distirct!)
There was catered breakfast and lunch where everyone was obviously very excited to see eachother after the break. I stood around looking like the last kid to be picked for kickball since I know absolutely no one. However, I did introduce myself to my new boss with a bat in the cave. It was probably waving to him during our entire conversation. Classic. At least I didn't have any food crusted to my face (that I know of).
Another plus for this group is that I did not see one mumu, jumpsuit or pair of overalls with Disney characters on them. Although there still were many mullets, femullets, mantails and even one purple hair sighting. Why some people use working with kids to excuse such horrible fashion choices, I'll never know. Tomorrow I get to go to my sites and figure out my caseload and working spaces. One preschool, two elementary and one "prison school". Maybe I'll meet the Roadkill Petter.