Date: Tue, 1 Jan 2013 11:32:17 -0600
From: Prince Ernest <prince_ernest86@live.com>
Subject: Chapter 2 of Room 108

Disclaimers: Everything you read in this story is my intellectual property
and as such should be treated with utmost respect. The students described
are not living, breathing human beings mind you. They exist only in the
realm of pure imagination, somewhat. These are my fantasies that I have
developed over the years. The students described in the story do not really
exist, but are rather the combination of several different students. Thus I
am not harming anyone, because they combine features and thus are not
really in existence.  ANY RESEMBLANCE TO REAL PEOPLE IS ENTIRELY
COINCIDENTAL ON MY PART.

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Room 108-Chapter 2


       "I see you've caught the eye of Hayden Van Diver, Mr. Lambert" said
Jacobson with a little smirk.

       Blankenhors gave a quick follow-up. "Hayden's a great kid, Michael,
but he's a bit of a behavioral problem. Nothing serious mind you, but he's
in need of a father figure since his own father split when he was five. He
needs a firm hand in the classroom his teachers told us last year. Many of
them unfortunately gave up on him, but perhaps you'll be different."

	I must have had a glazed over look on my face because the only
words out of my mouth were "What do you mean perhaps I'll be different?"

	Jacobson giggled a little and said "Oh my. You've not memorized
your student roster lists. I thought all you first-year teachers did
that. Hayden is in your fifth period class right before lunch."

	Total shock and awe came over my mind as I realized the
implications of this all. Hayden, this incredibly gorgeous young man who I
had already sprung an erection for, was going to be in MY class! My class!
Daily interaction with him would be expected...and enjoyed from my point of
view. And yet I was also struck with a sudden sense of fear. Could I
maintain my professional composure, which I valued deeply, in the face of
this young gentleman coming into contact with me? I resolved right then and
there that I would be professional with him in school, that was a given. My
reputation was young and weak coming right out of college, and I wasn't
willing to take that hit. But outside of school, all bets were off. I
forgot to mention that I was the 8th grade boys soccer coach, and I prayed
a silent little prayer that this young Hayden would prove to be a soccer
prodigy. God had so far decided to tempt me with placing him in my class,
now I would resolve to be a great teacher to him, and well whatever else
came my way would be dealt on a case-by-case basis.

	Jacobson, Blankenhors and I continued our discussion on various
education topics for a few more minutes. I was pleased to see that I had
made two friends already, as we all greatly agreed on various controversies
in education. None of us were fans of state-wide testing for students, we
all agreed that our students were our primary priority and we all somewhat
bashfully admitted that we would gladly do anything it took to make our
students succeed. From me and Blankenhors this was a bit naïve, but I
was relieved to see that Jacobson, after ten years of teaching, still
retained her initial passion for teaching. Yes, we would all make for fine
cohorts for each other.

	The dismissal bell rang and we went our separate ways, well as
separate as we could considering we all taught in the same hallway. I went
to the mailroom to check for any mail, and they went up the long hallway
from the commons to the main education wing. Students had ten minutes from
the time they were dismissed from the commons to report to their first
class of the day, which for 8th grade was an advisory class designed to
acquaint themselves with their fellow classmates, as well as to allow them
time to work on their homework. Advisory was only thirty minutes long, but
I considered it important. Again, yes I was attracted to the group of
students I would be working with, but I wanted them to succeed. If I got a
piece of ass on the side, that was a bonus. A huge bonus I admit, but it
was by no means why I showed up every day for.

	As I fought my way through the teeming mass of fresh young faces, I
realized that I wasn't too far behind Hayden and his group of friends. They
seemed to be well-liked by the students because many shouted out greetings,
but they also gave them a wide berth. A few of Hayden's friends pushed the
younger ones of the way. Nothing worthy of a discipline write up, but it
was enough for me to become wary of his friends. I wasn't one of those
teachers that were quick to label students as behavioral problems and
ignore them during my instruction, but I was sufficiently warned enough by
my college professors that these students would often try and push the
rules of behavior in class. They would need a firm hand, which I was more
than glad to give them, and ultimately they would respond well to
redirected guidance. Hayden pushed one or two out of the way, which again
made me on the watch, but the students he pushed playfully pushed him back
as they moved out of the way and shouted hello to him. Typical first day
activities in the hallway of a middle school.

	I arrived in my class 7 minutes before the bell rang and took
around my classroom. Advisory's were designed to be small so the teachers
could make better connections with their students and really help them with
this difficult time in their lives. I had twenty students, and it seemed to
be evenly split up between male and females. I noticed a few young ladies
had put themselves in the front of the classroom, and were already getting
their notebooks out in anticipation of taking notes. Notes on what I had no
idea. I did not anticipate teaching during advisory, but rather keeping it
informal and casual so the students could feel free to come to me with
their problems and enjoy the atmosphere. I chuckled a little as I told the
young ladies to put their notebooks away, that this was advisory and they
could relax in here. I heard a few "Hell yeahs" from the gentlemen who had
naturally taken the back row of seats. The lead girl looked crestfallen,
but her peers all seemed to relax.

	The bell rang and I shut the door so we could get down to
business. I took another look around and noticed one young man in the back
seemed to belong to Hayden's group of friends. He also seemed to be a
delicious morsel, and I was grateful for my career choice. While he wasn't
as physically striking as Hayden, he still seemed to be someone worth my
time. He was sitting down but I judged him to be about 5'0 even, 115 lbs
with a little muscle definition showing through his OBEY t-shirt. Black
hair that was long, but not long enough to require a pony tail. Slight
bangs which made him seem a little feminine, but he seemed all boy. His
eyes seemed to be light gray which was intriguing to me. He also seemed to
be wearing skinny jeans and he struck me as belonging to the group of young
males that I would classify in the "skater boi" category. Again striking,
but not as noteworthy as Hayden. I marked this young one for further study,
but wanted to get down to business with the duties of classroom
instruction.

	I took roll call and found out a few interesting names. The
go-getter in the front row who wanted to take notes was named Marissa
Juniper. She was the kind that wore sweater vests even though it was early
August outside, and the temps clearly backed that up. She seemed pleasant
enough and I bode her no ill will for wanting to take notes. Why should I?
I was hoping that she would learn to relax during her time in my class or
else I was afraid she would go down the road I had seen so many of my peers
head down. Constant uptightness and a complete inability to relax would
only do her harm in high school and ultimately college. I could tell
Marissa had the drive to succeed, but whether she would have the charisma
would remain to be seen. I made a mental note to try and include some
loosening up activities in my advisory period so she could perceive it as
instruction and hopefully take it to heart.

	The young "skater boi" in the back was named Byron Phillips. He was
definitely the leader of the back row group of hooligans which I also
looked forward to having in my class. Unlike Marissa, they would only to
greatly enjoy the fun activities I had in mind. They on the other hand
would need strict guidance in order to make sure they succeed. So far my
Advisory seemed to be a good balance between those students that needed to
loosen up and those students that needed to get their act together or they
would be repeat offenders in 8th grade.

	After roll was taken, we got down to the pedantic first day
activities. All students had to fill out these delightful little yellow
note-cards handed out by the school in which they filled out personal
information about them. The usual stuff was recorded, primary residence,
primary guardian, any allergies, so on and so forth. I looked over my
lesson plans for 1st period while students filled these out. They were used
to them by now I imagine and it didn't take long before they had completed
the task and were ready to move on. We still had about 17 minutes before
the bell rang for dismissal, so I decided to try and be a little cliché
and have the students get to know each other. I imagine most of them
already knew each other having come up from 7th grade together, but they
had not all been with the same group of teachers, and so a little ice
breaker couldn't do any harm.

	In order to seem "cool" and inventive, while also still retain my
authority I decided we would do something active while also sharing stories
about our summers. It was something safe, but it got the students up and as
it was the first day I wanted to make a good impression on them. I wasn't
willing to go all out, but I wanted them to develop a positive idea of what
advisory with Mr. Lambert could entail.

	I had my students get up into a circle around me. There was again
only about twenty of them so the circle wasn't huge, and they all remained
slightly close to each other which was good. Close contact with each other
would make them comfortable with their peers in Advisory. Rather they get
used to their cohorts in Advisory on Day One out of Day 180. I got out a
small basketball which I kept in my desk. It was one of those cheesy little
knock-off deals you got from your bank when you opened up an account and
they wanted to reward you or your kid with something so you felt special.
The slight foam would be fun for the boys to play around with, and if they
got too physical and started throwing it around, it wouldn't do any real
harm to the ladies who would naturally act as if they had been wounded on
the fields of Vietnam if the ball hit them.

	I told them the simple rules of the game. They were to share
stories about their summer, which could be about whatever they wanted it to
be. It could be short and sweet, or long and drawn out. They could only
talk when they had the ball in their possession, and the only other real
rule is that the ball had to go from male to female. This way it wouldn't
become just friends passing it back and forth to each other. Genius right??

	I stared off naturally. I informed them that I had moved out here
from the great state of Illinois, and had always been a great admirer of
California. Who couldn't help but be one when you had grown up around flat
plains all your life? I wasn't married or seeing anyone, no kids, a few
younger brothers and had always wanted to be a middle school social studies
teacher. I told them I enjoyed classical music (a few snickered), but also
enjoyed such bands as Three Days Grace, Nickleback and a few others. Just
enough for the students to see me as relatable but still someone to admire
and respect, rather than as a chum or buddy. I passed the ball to Marissa
after my story ended. I figured letting her go first would make her feel
rewarded after being informed this wasn't a solely academic exercise.

	"My name is Marissa Juniper, and one day I'm going to be the first
female President, if Hillary Clinton doesn't beat me to it. "

	"Freak!" Bryon muttered under his breath, but loud enough so that I
and others could hear him. His gang snickered. I decided to move closer so
he wouldn't try it again. If it put me closer to this attractive young man,
well that was a burden I was going to have to take upon myself. Oddly
enough, when I moved closer to him I noticed the faint smell of marijuana.
I had been around it enough when I was younger, but had never been a
regular aficionado. Again that was something I kept a mental record of, but
what could I do about it right now? He wasn't smoking it in class, and for
all I knew it was from an older brother or someone at the house rather than
him personally. My immediate concern was that I wanted him to be respectful
and listen, but I wasn't going to make it a full-blown confrontation on day
one.

	Marissa continued. "Over the summer, me and my family travelled to
Washington D.C, where I got to see the White House, the U.S Capital, and
even sit in on a case of the Supreme Court! We also visited my grandmother
in New York City, and I was privileged enough to see Ground Zero. It was
incredibly moving, and also I fully support the War on Terror. President
George W. Bush is one of the greatest Presidents in our living memory.
Obama should never have won the election, he wasn't even born in U.S!"

	I looked over in her direction, and decided that was enough
politics for one day. I wanted them to feel free to express themselves, but
politics in 8th grade can quickly become more hotheaded than level-headed.
Again the goal of today was casual, not deep. I looked at Marissa's
backpack and noticed a "Romney 12" sticker on her backpack. That was a
mental note I filed away for later use. Marissa would be great in
discussions in my class, I could tell, but I would need to make sure I
remained objective and hopefully she would follow my lead.

	Oddly enough, even though he had made a negative comment towards
her, Marissa passed the ball to Byron. The ball dropped in back of him, and
went he bent over; I noticed he was wearing AE boxers. Nice. Once he picked
up the ball, he looked to his buddies like the whole exercise was a big
joke. However, when he made eye contact with me and I gave him a mini "you
better take this shit seriously" look, he cleared his throat and started
his speech.

	"So this summer me and my friends we just chilled at the skate
park, meeting some fine young girls ya know?" He smirked when he said this
and pushed his bangs back from his eyes. While he did so I noticed his
bracelets on his arm. One said YOLO, a phrase I knew meant "You Only Live
Once", a ridiculous phrase if I ever had heard one. The other was dark
green and said "I <3 Boobies". I knew those were for breast cancer support,
but I also knew young men wore them as a sign of their rebellion from
authority. I made a note to discuss those bracelets with Jacobson and see
what the school policy was.

	"Yeah we mostly just shredded it up at the park and chilled on the
beach when the weather was nice. My main bro Hayden got a new 4 wheeler for
his birthday, and man did we have fun with that! I stayed over at his
house, and we would attach a sled to the back of it! He drug me around on
it through the fields by his house. I flipped off it a few times, but it
was awesome! His mom watched us so we knew we couldn't be too stupid with
it, but we still had a few wild times on that 4 wheeler! Hayden and I also
did summer soccer camp up in Las Culpas (a town twenty minutes away), and
we are looking forward to winning the State Championship this year. Any
plans about that Coach?"

	It was then that I noticed Bryon had me dead in his sights, with a
little smirk on his face. Oh yes, this was going to be an interesting year.


Well that about wraps it up for Chapter 2. I hate to sound like a broken
record player, but this is going to be a slow story with a good amount of
buildup. I hope you enjoy it, and would LOVE to get any and all feedback
from those who read this story! Email me at prince_ernest86@live.com!

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