Chasing Starlight

Chapter 8 - Stormy Weather Pt. 2

Samia paced at the front of the classroom. Class was going to start in a few minutes and she was so nervous, she didn't know what to do with herself. She'd already checked her notes several times over. Chattering voices filled the hallway and with that, students began to file into the room, talking and laughing as they did. Samia tried to guess which face went to which name on her list.

   The bell chimed and the students sat down, waiting curiously for her to start. She could hear a slight murmur of whispers between them. She took a deep breath and began roll call. Once she reached the last name on the list, she step closer to the front and began.

"Good afternoon students, my name is Miss Hawes and as I'm sure you know, I'll be your teacher for the rest of the year. This is your first year in highschool, and this is my first year as a teacher, so I hope we can enjoy it together." She smiled, and was pleased to see a few faces smiling back, even if not all of them.

"So, can anyone tell me where we are at right now with our studies, and what we have been focusing on?" Samia knew the answer, but she wanted to see how comfortable the class was answering, especially something so simple.

A smattering of hands went up, others looked attentive enough to know the answer if she called on them. She ignored them and called on a boy sitting near the back, staring off at the wall without much focus. She wasn't doing it to pick on him, but she figured that if she knew where to start with the least attentive kid, getting the rest together on the same page would be less of a hurdle for her.

"Let's see, it's Jonathan right?"

"Just Jon."

"Okay, Jon. Would you please tell me where we are at in the class, and what we're studying right now?"

Jon looked annoyed at being called on,  and sighed, crossing his arms.

"I don't know exactly.." Samia waited, without pressing.

"It's like the odyssey by some old Greek guy."

"Okay great, and how far are we in the book?"

"Ummm..like the last part I think? Mr. Davis was gonna have us start working on our essays this week."

Samia smiled, he seemed to pay more attention than he put off.

"And how would you all feel about taking a test today?"

There were several gasps and a mixed of scared and angry murmurs.

Samia laughed and waved her hands.

"Don't worry, I don't plan to make you take a test today. We'll be continuing where you left off yesterday, we'll have a few conversations about the material, and I'll be introducing the essay topics I'd like you all to start thinking about. There's going to be some homework tonight, and first drafts will be due by the end of the week."

The rest of class continued in a positive way. She worked on getting to know the students and made sure to talk to or call on each one at some point. Overall, there seemed to be a lack of comprehension and thematic understanding, but she was sure they could improve quickly. Before she knew it, she'd reached the end of class. She said goodbye to the students as they left, a few waved and called out to her as they walked out.

  She let out a happy sigh and went over to her desk to sit down. She was tired, but pleased. She thought it went incredibly well for her first day, she had heard horror stories from other teachers and student teachers of ending up with unruly classes. She supposed part of it was the effect of the academy itself, always demanding a vigorous attitude from it's students so trouble rarely came from classes themselves. She started to gather her things to head back to the teachers offices, but decided against it. She didn't want to run into Elliot yet, she wanted to create more distance publicly. Though most of her really wanted to run and find him to tell him how well it had gone. She went through her notes and students work from today, getting absorbed into the task.