I start a new job today. I'm scared.

Wait. Make that scared as all hell.

You know those 'back to school' jitters that students claim a monopoly on? Well, hold onto your pieces, because this teacher is in the game and building hotels. I think the basic fears are the same as student fears - it's new, unknowing if they will know or like anyone, the worry that they're not going to be able to do it. It's amazing how much fear doesn't dissapate from that leap from student to teacher.

I stopped by the school late last week. This school is in the 'bad area' of town. It was covered with markings and graffiti on the front of the school. And, it was under renovations - it was a K - 12 school last year and is now K - 9, with the primarys moving to the old high school section. So it was a huge mess. Some glass had been broken and it was treated as a matter of rote, with discussions of how to sweep glass. The LRC had about 20 books. It wasn't the best way to meet the building that houses my career. It will be better today, cleaned up and less frantic.

And really. It doesn't matter what the school is like if the kids are real kids. They need teachers, they need education. They need to learn to read and write and research and add and all of those things. It's still a school.

However. I'm still scared. It's funny, like a student, the teachers scare me more than the students.

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