Teacher Days 1and 2

So my summer has officially come to an end. Yesterday I had to attend a "new teacher induction" (which includes inexperienced teachers as well as new teachers to Doss, making my attendance mandantory) and we have two days of county mandated teacher inservice today and Monday.
It's interesting being the "new kid". Quite frankly, I don't like it. I'm no good in these situations. Spencer is a pro. Everyone loves Spencer when they first meet him. I just stand next to him and everything is great. But I had to go it alone yesterday and today. Yesterday was a small group of people and we were all new so it was not so bad. Today the entire faculty and staff was present so it was painfully obvious that I was new. You know that feeling when you walk into a room and have to pick where to sit? Do you boldly go sit at a table with an established group of people? Do you find another singleton and ask to share their table? My theory is to find an empty table and either a) sit there by myself or b) force someone else to come introduce themselves to me. Today we were asked to sit in departments so I didn't have to put my table theory into practice. As the lectures began, we were supposed to be focusing on classroom discipline techniques. I picked up a few interesting facts, but moreso, I learned some handy things about my new school.

Here's my list:

#1. Everyone goes by their last name. Everyone. From here on out I guess you can call me Barham.
#2. JCPS employees are required to wear ID tags. Most will put the tag on a lanyard along with keys and wear around the neck. At Doss, the cool thing to do is to put the keys in your pocket and have the lanyard string hanging out down your leg. (I refuse to participate in this particular trend.)
#3. The AP's are awesome.
#4. The principal is an OCD Type A paper pusher who always seems to have drank just a little too much caffiene. I will avoid him at all costs.
#5. The janitorial staff is not bitter.

With Amy's help (Jack's mom) I have been able to go to the school and get things cleaned up and sorted out. Finally, I can say that my physical space is under control. It's not perfect, but certainly workable for the first few days of classes. Next, I need to work on lesson planning. I have a basic outline ready to go, but can't get specific with my band class until I meet the kids on Tuesday and figure out what I'm dealing with. I don't even have an instrumentation list to work with! Can they play grade 4? Grade 3? I'll know soon enough I guess. Now, the piano lab..... that's a whole other story. Thankfully, God made me a better teacher than musician. And I will certainly be talking my little self to death in there because guided practice will not be my method of choice. (I do, we do, you do for the non-ed majors out there)