Where do I begin? It seems so much has happened since my entry last November 2003.

To update you, I spent last year working security at a high school in Parkland, Florida, while earning my English certification at night. I actually thought I could've gotten hired last year teaching something, but that never happened so I was forced to patrol the halls an entire year.

Ugh! I attended the May job fair, where I was told Broward County was in desperate need of English teachers. I passed out close to 50 resumes - to both high schools and middle schools - and had about six interviews, but received no job offers. I then targeted 10 schools in the county where I wanted to work and sent them resumes. I had a couple more interviews but still no offers.

What teacher shortage?

So I waited and waited and waited. June came and passed, and still no phone calls. July came and..the phone started ringing. I think I received about six calls the first or second week of July. One of the schools I had targeted a few months before contacted me. Needless to say, I had two job offers in the span of six hours.

Within a week of getting hired, I was off to a five-day conference called New Teacher Academy. Then came planning week. I didnÕt have much time to plan because it seemed I was spending all of my time in faculty meetings. In the process, I was getting the biggest headaches. I just felt incredibly overwhelmed, and school hadnÕt even started.

Learn the county-wide email program and the online grading system (Pinnacle) ... keep track of which students returned which forms...decorate my room ... figure out how to make copies ... get room keys, but from whom? ... figure out what to wear ... buy school supplies (you mean the school doesnÕt provide them?)

My to-do list had never been longer, the learning curve never steeper. But because the faculty at my school is so helpful, it wasnÕt long before I started to fit in, before I started understanding things.

I found a couple of history teachers who shared the same planning period and began peppering them with questions. They kidded me a bit about the absurdity of some of my questions but they never once made me feel foolish. I got involved a bit, too. I joined some teachers for Friday happy hour. I ate lunch in the teachers' lounge. I started going to the varsity football games. I began playing basketball every Sunday morning with a group of teachers, and because of that I was asked to participate in the annual faculty-student game.

I even got involved with the basketball team, keeping score for both the boys and girls teams (and getting paid in the process). Now when I walk around school I realize that I know almost everyone. And that really helps as a first-year teacher.

I did my Personal Growth Plan (PGP) a few weeks ago and was shocked when one of the assistant principals said that not much is expected of me because IÕm a first-year teacher. IÕll admit that IÕm still learning how to be more efficient, how to get through to certain students, etc.

But IÕll tell you this much - whether IÕm a first-year teacher or not, IÕm going to do my best to make sure that every one of my students either passes or shows gains on the FCAT.

Other than that, things have gone pretty smoothly. I live only 10 minutes from my school. I recently found that the School Board had accepted my four years of work-related experience - I was a copy editor at a newspaper for eight years, then owned my own restaurant for two years. That meant a nice raise.

As for funny things that have happened to me, I have my share. I sat on a table that toppled from under me (that got a good laugh from my class).

Now if only there were more single teachers at my school...

Mark Cooper teaches 10th grade Intensive Reading at Coral Springs (Florida) High School.