New year, new schedule

Our lives will be so different next year in a lot of ways. Matt will be in Paris for the year, and we'll have to figure out how to do long distance marriage, in different time zones. Matt will be busy doing his own thing.

Meanwhile, my job description will change dramatically. For teaching, we have a new department chair who would like to do a total makeover of the French department.... I'm a little anxious about that: last year was my first year. This year was like another first year because of new textbooks and a new curriculum in both French 3 + AP. Will next year be another first year??  I will teach the same courses, except that I will have an honors section (new curriculum).

As for dorm life: every trimester, I will have dorm duty once a week, and for 1 trimester, twice a week. Dorm duty is from 8 to 11:30pm where I reinforce study hall, be a presence, handle conflicts and lay down the law (if there are kids sneaking in or out, or breaking other rules). Here's the breakdown:

8:00pm check in all
8:00 to 10:00pm quiet study hall in rooms
10:00 to 10:45pm dorm meeting (1/week), free time, boys can come over, etc...
10:45 to 11:00pm shower, get ready for bed
11:00pm girls in room, quiet
11:30pm lights out (seniors have no lights out)

Secondly, I will have 2 Saturday night duty per trimester where I can't go out, but I do the same things. Our dorm will have 23 seniors and 3 juniors. It's a good group from what I'm told, with only 1 over-dramatic pair.I'm NOT a night owl, so the change of schedule will be tough for me.

Then there's Family Style dinner on Mondays and Thursdays (1.5 hours). Kids dress up and have assigned seats in the cafeteria: 10 kids to 1 faculty member (rotates throughout year). This is supposed to teach them good table manners, conversation with people you don't normally know, etc...

I'll still be an advisor, but I really hope I have a small number of kids (5 is good, 12 is the maximum).

There's going to be a big learning curve for next year. I'll have to know the rules inside and out so well (and trust me, at a boarding school, there are many!). I'll have to know every fire drill and evacuation drill and alarm there is to know. For example, if kids forget to "fob" in or out, and open the door past 11:30pm, the "intruder alert" goes off. Basically, a loud voice will yell "INTRUDER! INTRUDER". Protocol is that everyone goes to their room and locks the door. Security comes over, does a sweep, then gives an all clear. Hopefully, it'll always be an all clear.

I will also have to set boundaries and teach the girls that just because I live in the same hallway as them, that apartment is MY space, and they can't just hang out with me, or ask me to cook for them. When I told one of my students that I was moving into her dorm, she immediately squealed then asked "are you going to have good food?" Other faculty have reminded me to stay firm on the "this is my house, my space. You need to be invited first." I do look forward to having girls over, especially my advisees. The thing is (and this is totally vain, I know), I'd really like to make our place home-y. Problem is, our furniture isn't all that nice (mismatched) and I don't want it to look like a college dorm. Whatever.

The good news is that I'll be much more a part of the community and I'll get to know many more people. For a long time, I've felt like I was on the outside, looking through a window and missing out.