I'm a teacher at Balboa high School in San Francisco. Balboa has had a reputation for the past dozen or so years as a powder keg ready to explode. And at times that was precisley (sp?) what it was. Today balboa is a pretty exceptional place to be a student and a teacher.
I teach Pre-Law (we have a Law Academy) and Media Literacy (my major in college, and a class I always wanted to teach). I can say I'm pretty lucky to be here. I'm also developing an Academy of Information Technology (AOIT) for next year. That and the fact that I live a 20 minute walk away is a pretty good clue how i feel about my job.
Of course being at a high school with a past reputation for teen violence also has its hurdles. For instance, some kids who are at heart really nice and sweet, think that since they're at Bal they need to be tough. There's enough testosterone in this school to stop a rampaging bull at times.
I'd like to make part of this blog a teaching journal so you can get a real sense what it's like to be a teacher in an urban school.
Gotta run for now. Check back soon.
