new school year

On Monday, I was once again going over my syllabus for Physical Science and Biology, and the class patiently listened as they always do on their first day. I admit I was dragging my feet going into this year, but a few noticeable changes at school have re-motivated me.

We are so much more organized and better at communicating, and to me, this is huge. Brooke had time before Summer Bridge to explain the schedule and activities (something I never got the year before with a much more ambitious forestry project). Our student handbooks/planners were given out during Summer Bridge, and we went over them. Our teacher handbooks were given out during the teacher workdays, and we are going over them. The teachers now have a common office space, which is so good for helping each other and building cohesiveness. Everyone has a laptop with a mandate to check email daily.

I'm teaching out of a lab in a separate building, and I'm reworking how the classroom runs to utilize the laptops more. It's challenging, but the students dig it. Luckily I am in a separate building, and so didn't have the wireless internet issues that plagued Matt and Brooke the first week.

Outside of school, Forrest is back from Iraq for a couple weeks, and Matt and I keep running into students at grocery store check-outs (ugh, inconvenient). I've been planning our little wedding, which has been fun. Also, the Latino Center is taking off.