two weeks in

2008 ended with some great news, and I am just so happy for my mother. Let's just say, home will never be the same again.

Then the new year began with a bit of stress, between my old car acting up, a crown falling off my tooth, and mainly, uncertainties at school. The weekend before Matt and I had to report back to work, we knew we would have a new schedule, we knew he would teach more of the Earth and Environmental Science, we knew we'd have to put our rooms back together after the asbestos removal, but we also didn't know any details or anything for sure.

It turns out, we've switched to every subject every day, but our students are grouped differently for MWF than for TT. This new schedule is more complicated, but things went better than I expected, and I've heard quite a bit of positive feedback from students and teachers. Matt now teaches all the Earth and Environmental Science and no more of the impossible Academic Support (yay!). We also start work earlier at 7:30 and are free to go at 3:00.

I resolved to not let any of my Physical Science students fall through the cracks, now that I only have 44. I've been encouraged by the successes and efforts of an abnormally shy and quiet student. I've also been encouraged by how well group work is going. The shorter class periods lend themselves to teaching one concept a day, and that is better for my students.

My other resolve was to do something during "family" time, so I've been showing photos of Taiwan, teaching Chinese, and we'll make dumplings, all leading up to the Chinese New Year. After that, I'm not sure what we'll do.

I'm still struggling with a homework policy, and I have a class period that I wish I had split up. The first almost-full Monday to Friday week seems so long, and by Wednesday night, I definitely wanted Matt's Double Dog. If I'm writing a lot about school, it's because it's all that's been on my mind. I keep hoping that as things settle in, school will take more of a back seat. After all, the days are getting longer.

I'm looking forward to talking to Grant tonight and planning a camping trip for our MLK weekend.