Easy does it

Today I officially started at the school where I'll be doing my student teaching. The day began with the usual intros, welcome back stuff, and then covering the nuts and bolts. The meeting was set to be about 3 1/2-4 hours long. Since I was dumb enough to stay up too late the night before, I was quite tired. I wasn't quite ready to give up my last summer night. I had just received word of my placement on Friday, so things felt a bit rushed. Even though I was nervous, I felt at ease right away with the staff. It was clear from the getgo that this school was a close-knit family that felt very comfortable with one another.

Besides covering the professional and academic issues, some cute little treats were thrown in to keep us on our toes. During the sharing of summer adventures, one staff spoke about an experience she had at a Cirque de Soleil show in Las Vegas. She said she had been invited to join the cast on stage at one point in front of the audience. For ten minutes she was up there answering questions such as...
"What's your name?"
"Where are you from?"
"Are you horny?"
"Are you often horny?"

Needless to say, as her story went on my mouth dropped. I looked around and saw the surprise and amusement on several faces. The other student teacher I was sitting with had her eyes popping out of her head. We both exchanged smiles and suddenly felt our nervous energy relax a bit. After this lady finished her story, the principal was a bit flustered at first and even blushed. It was such a hilarious moment. While I doubt I would have the courage to say the word "horny" in a school setting, I found out later from this lady that she's been at that school for twenty years and felt right at home. She was very sweet to me. I liked her immediately.

There were a couple of fun activities and few more informational presentations. One of the activities was about brainstorming our core values. I enjoyed the creativity and insight of these people. Many of them think outside the box and that is so awesome. I am not so much the cookie cutter type of teacher, so at this point I'm thinking to myself "I'm gonna like it here." Then as the meeting was about to end, the principal had a great little video he wanted us to see called The Evolution of Dance. He wanted to recognize that though the staff come from many different generations, we are all still connected. I'm providing a link for your entertainment. I had actually seen this funny video months earlier when someone emailed it to me and loved that he was cool enough to show it. I love that this staff have a sense of humor about life and themselves, which is a great recipe for working with kids. Here's the link...enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg