Sup Teach?

Our school is a gated community, or should I say, gated off from the community. Six classroom portables, one portable office, our campus is fenced off from the rest of Oakland that extends beyond the intersection of 83^rd Ave and Hillside St.  The windows of our portable have bars while the metal door to our room locks automatically and is sealed off by a two-inch thick pipe when the last person leaves. Immediately outside our classroom window is the blocked off football field and track that belongs to Castlemont High. Come this fall, our students will once again see their mainstream peers on the other side of double-chain linked fences play, practice, and train on fresh turf while they have P.E. and play basketball in a parking lot riddled with ankle-spraining potholes.

I’m glad I’m here.

There’s something about being in your classroom, sitting in your makeshift teacher chair, and staring at the desks of your future students for the first time that puts a smile on your face. This is home and I finally have my keys.

August 25, 2008, it’s game time.  Much props to Mr. G for all the support thus far, from the very beginning (OTF interview tips) to first day advice.