Back to School…to prove to Dad that I’m no fool (Billy Madison)

31 August 2013 (actually)

As most schools in the States have started by now, this is just a quick update about how my school year has been going. We've already had 5 weeks of classes!

The new school year started on 15 July for students. The teachers had to start orientation on the 4^th of July…Happy Independence Day to me. This year I am still in charge of a 4^th grade class (my forms class), and I am teaching Maths to two classes of 3^rd grade and one class of 4^th grade.

I’m finding that the second year, in general, is significantly easier than the first. I feel like I actually know what to expect and what I am doing, or at least supposed to be doing. The 3^rd grade curriculum is new to me, but it actually is great to get to know where my 4^th graders have come from in last year’s curriculum. It’s great to be able to teach the same 4^th grade curriculum again, but this year I have the highest-level class, so they’re smart, motivated and love maths class. I’m having fun incorporating group work and games into my lessons, knowing that they will be able to behave appropriately and have fun at the same time.

There are only two classes of 3^rd grade, and since I teach both, one of them is all of the highest-level students and the other is an interesting mix of students who may be very smart in Maths, but not necessarily in other subjects. There are also about five students who have some behavior/attention issues that I’m learning to deal with. Luckily, for me and the students, they have Nicole as their forms teacher, so she’s slowly whipping the entire class back into shape. There are days (like last Friday) when I taught them for one hour, after which I was completely emotionally and physically exhausted. I’m glad I have them to teach, otherwise it may seem like this teaching thing is easy. They’re a loud, sometimes obnoxious, reminder, that all students deserve consistent and caring teachers in their lives. I hope I can start being meaner to them so that they improve in their Maths skills (which may sound weird to the non-teachers reading this, but that’s what this class honestly needs. Discipline and follow-through. Two things I’ve been working on to improve from last year).

One more thing, I am working with Kristina to teach the Basketall CCA (co-curricular activity) after school. We work with 3^rd and 4^th grade girls for one hour and then 5^th and 6^th grade girls for another hour. It has been fun so far, and it’s pretty funny to watch them improve (ever so slightly) in their passing, dribbling and shooting so far. We both cringe a lot during the two hours, especially when they shoot the ball, but they have so much fun and it’s great to play some basketball again.

Okay, short and sweet, as promised. If you want to know anything else about school or my trips, just send me an email .