Re-focusing on School

It has been a very productive weekend for me, now that school is in session. I was worried that I would have trouble re-focusing once school started, since the summer had been so short, but I found myself really enjoying being back at school and looking forward to being a better teacher this year than in the past. It being the first week, the kids were obviously very nice. And, most of them did their homework from Day 1! I was glad that the year is off to a good start. As far as classes go, the most challenging part thus far is taking roll and learning names, even though the kids are eager to help. (How reliable they are at taking roll is still a question, since I can't yet visually check who is there and who is not at a quick glance, and on Friday, I noticed after class that there was a mistake on at least one of the attendance sheets.) It turns out that one out of every two or three Salvadorean girls is either named Camila or Alejandra, which means that I also have to learn their last names, in addition to learning their first names. And, teaching 5 classes -- many of them back-to-back -- means that my mind is more scattered than usual. So, even with the kids now being assigned to permanent seats, I think I am still going to struggle with distinguishing them for a while. They will have to be patient with me. :)

------------------------

It's funny how, at the new school, I am one of the youngest-looking teachers around. I suppose I've always looked young, but at AMS it wasn't so noticeable, since other teachers actually are younger than me. Here, it's much more traditional, and there is a greater mix of teachers of all ages. It's definitely interesting, because I can sense that some of the other teachers didn't quite know what to think when I showed up, looking a bit like one of the kids. Even though I dress very conservatively at school, I think it only helps matters a bit, and I am pretty sure that some of the other staffers are still worried about my classroom discipline...

It's kind of funny. Geoff says it's also because I am pretty friendly, so people who meet me think that I don't have a strong personality. If only they knew.