I fell into the new school year. Literally. Tumbled head over heels down a concrete staircase, somersaulting twice and banging everything that could be banged on the way down. This is how tough I am (let us forget the clumsiness for a moment): Injuries?
1. A scratch on my back.
2. A major bruise on my leg.
3. A sore shoulder.
"Ha! Bring it on," I say to the slippery monsoon cement experiences life throws my way. Just give me a bit of a rest first.
In all seriousness, the first couple days back to school were rough. In combination with the fall, I moved office, had my external hard drive crash and burn (well, not burn, exactly, but it might as well have), had a teacher quit before she arrived, and scrambled to throw together the many bits and pieces required by staff and students to successfully start a new year. I've spent the last week wondering what else would or could go wrong.
God has been gracious to redeem the difficult moments and to inspire me through students and colleagues.
1. My new office is lovely--a departing colleague left me two soft paper lamps that infuse the office with a warm and fuzzy glow that has almost everyone who enters sighing in satisfaction. Makes me smile.
2. The hard drive? Already replaced, thanks to my generous parents and some former colleagues who are visiting. I'm piecing together former versions of the files I lost and realizing that it's just not that big a deal.
3. The new teacher quit, yes. This opened the way for the return of an old Woodstock hand who taught here for a number of years. He's just the man to breathe some much-needed wisdom and experience into the Social Studies Department (which includes me!)
4. The scrambling has paid off, at least, temporarily. Every teacher has a desk. There's a staff handbook and a student handbook. We're starting to use our online course management system more thoroughly. We had an inspiring (if, yes, a little too long) first assembly.
Most significantly, the students are back and that makes everything look different! Desks are filled with shiny, new faces and lockers are already spilling their contents into the hallway. Several hundred new shoes squeak down the hallway every hour. We even have ambitious rhesus monkeys who aspire to join our elevated community, or perhaps simply dig through our trash. They now open and shut the doors of the building all on their own.
I'm back introducing AP European History for (gasp!) the twelfth time. And today closed with a first: we were playing a game to review terminology from the world of medieval Europe--words like fief and vassal and serf and chivalry. The four teams had grown competitive. The prize? Cadbury's eclairs. These are 17 and 18 year olds we're talking about. Trust me: chocolate works. After a long day of school, the final bell rang. Unbelievably, the entire class came out with a collective, "AWWWWWW" of disappointment. These are the days we teachers remember!
1. A scratch on my back.
2. A major bruise on my leg.
3. A sore shoulder.
"Ha! Bring it on," I say to the slippery monsoon cement experiences life throws my way. Just give me a bit of a rest first.
In all seriousness, the first couple days back to school were rough. In combination with the fall, I moved office, had my external hard drive crash and burn (well, not burn, exactly, but it might as well have), had a teacher quit before she arrived, and scrambled to throw together the many bits and pieces required by staff and students to successfully start a new year. I've spent the last week wondering what else would or could go wrong.
God has been gracious to redeem the difficult moments and to inspire me through students and colleagues.
1. My new office is lovely--a departing colleague left me two soft paper lamps that infuse the office with a warm and fuzzy glow that has almost everyone who enters sighing in satisfaction. Makes me smile.
2. The hard drive? Already replaced, thanks to my generous parents and some former colleagues who are visiting. I'm piecing together former versions of the files I lost and realizing that it's just not that big a deal.
3. The new teacher quit, yes. This opened the way for the return of an old Woodstock hand who taught here for a number of years. He's just the man to breathe some much-needed wisdom and experience into the Social Studies Department (which includes me!)
4. The scrambling has paid off, at least, temporarily. Every teacher has a desk. There's a staff handbook and a student handbook. We're starting to use our online course management system more thoroughly. We had an inspiring (if, yes, a little too long) first assembly.
Most significantly, the students are back and that makes everything look different! Desks are filled with shiny, new faces and lockers are already spilling their contents into the hallway. Several hundred new shoes squeak down the hallway every hour. We even have ambitious rhesus monkeys who aspire to join our elevated community, or perhaps simply dig through our trash. They now open and shut the doors of the building all on their own.
I'm back introducing AP European History for (gasp!) the twelfth time. And today closed with a first: we were playing a game to review terminology from the world of medieval Europe--words like fief and vassal and serf and chivalry. The four teams had grown competitive. The prize? Cadbury's eclairs. These are 17 and 18 year olds we're talking about. Trust me: chocolate works. After a long day of school, the final bell rang. Unbelievably, the entire class came out with a collective, "AWWWWWW" of disappointment. These are the days we teachers remember!
