I had thought about using a song from Les Miserable as the basis for today's blog, but unfortunately my creating energies have left me, so you are stuck with my ramblings. I shall try to keep them on topic...imagine that, ramblings that are on topic!
Today was day one. It began quite early...a 6:00 start. Did you know that taking time to sit and enjoy breakfast is a delight before work, but makes your day slightly more rushed. Meh, what's a girl to do! So after my hearty serving of Wheaties (okay, it was a little serving of Honey Bunches of Oats) I was off to school. My tea was hidden in my bookbag (Ramadan) and off I went in search of a working photocopier.
Ours was still down (and by down I mean there was no toner...a problem that at my previous school I would rectify by replacing said toner, but here that's a no-no!). The Middle School library copier was also down (guess what...NO TONER). So I set off to high school land. I think the high school assistant principal could see the dire need on my face as she said it was no problem to use their copier. Being the nice teacher that I am, I made copies for two of my team-mates as well (I like my team so far...very collaborative spirit).
It was now 8:00 and there were still no "new" desks in my classroom. So I arranged the old desks and placed their name cards on the desks being sure to evenly space boys and girls. When that was finished I was off to the tennis courts to bake for a half hour. Actually the tennis courts was the location for the congregating of learners this morning. You see, bright and early this morning, the elementary playground was painted. As a result, the tennis court had all of Grades 1 - 5 assembling there (keep in mind that we have, on average 5 of every grade level).
Due to the craziness surrounding H1N1 we had approximately 45% of our students in Grades 1 - 5 today. I had 10 students out of a possible 23. Five girls and five boys made up the classroom dynamics in my Grade Five room.
All in all it was a loverly day with my kidlets. It was hotter than heck...but no humidity, so I am very thankful for that. I had lunch duty, which meant another 20 minutes outside. You start to get used to the constant perspiration that accompanies 45 degrees!!!
At the end of the school day, the children were off and so were the desks. New desks will be in class tomorrow morning when I arrive. Now the question remains whether or not I will have enough bodies to fill the classroom!!!
Oh, the voice...well, it's much more difficult than I thought to teach in my current situation. I do have a microphone and it works just swimmingly; however, the strain of talking to a large group (even when there are just 10) remains a problem. It's difficult to explain that when one has a conversation with one other person, it's very different from teaching a lesson in class. Will my voice hold out? I don't know...stay tuned to The New Adventures of Old Tylene to find out!
Ha ha ha...what a sad conclusion. At any rate, I'm about ready for bed. It's 6:00 here (yes, in the evening). I think that an evening of rest is about all that I can muster tonight. Next blog will come in one week from today. Stay tuned.
Tylene
ooooh, p.s. Grover came to school today and had a marvelous time. He did try to hug one of my students as they were introducing their partner...tooo cute.
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