The first week back always seems to drag by, so it is nice to have it done with. Plus, you have to be nice and not start counting tardies, or yell at the frightened freshmen because they were incapable of understanding the vocabulary assignment, or let the juniors see how much work you are going to be making them do.
On the upside, it is now a long weekend, and, thanks to my wonderfully efficient student aide, all my grading is done and I have about thirty minutes' worth of work to do over the next three days. That is very, very nice.
So my first week has gone very well. I don't actually have 45 kids in any of my classes, so that is great. I got most of the week's assignments back from the juniors (the "regular" ones with the reputation of not doing much of anything), and my honors freshmen will, I think, turn out to be somewhat less neurotic than a roomful of chihuahuas. I hope.
Also, the graphic arts guy is awesome, and he always has my copies ready in time. And he will print on colored paper, cardstock, or laminate things without administrative approval, which was a dumb rule anyway.
On the other hand, my LCD projector is almost as old as some of my students, and my pull-down screen is three feet wide. And, for some reason, the only voice jack in my room is in the one corner of the room where it doesn't make much sense to put a desk: where the cable jack is (and where the TV, then, has to be).
Yes, there are going to be some problems. There are too many crazy stacks of papers, already, that I need to deal with, and there are still 37 weeks of school left. There are about four kids in each class that need to say something out loud approximately every six minutes, and as many that are willing to sit and stare at a blank sheet of paper, rather than asking for help. A couple speak pretty poor English (although, given extra time, one manages to crank out spectacular work), and lots are just unmotivated or half-asleep at 7 in the morning.
Anyway, I just thought you would like to hear how things are going. I hope you are enjoying your own back-to-school experiences!
2 comments:
I did enjoy hearing about your back to school week, especially with the new job and all. Glad things are going well. What novel will you be wowing them with first?
The freshmen will be reading Of Mice and Men, starting the week after next. The juniors are reading The Crucible, but not for a little while. First: Mayflower Compact, Anne Bradstreet, and, to give them a proper sense of the willies, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."
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