First Week Back

Holidays, lovely things that they are, are now over. I am officially back in the saddle, and have survived Week 1 of the school year. It went pretty well, both in the classroom and in my new position of responsibility. Cool things from the week: 1. My long-awaited projector/home theatre set-up in my classroom is now complete! There's a ceiling mounted projector, a DVD/VCR combo, a sound system, and space and cabling to plug in a laptop. I have used it for powerpoint notes (vastly superior to OHTs), and am looking forward to showing movies on it over the course of the year. It ended up being very cheap, as I went to Dick Smiths and had limited options for the sound system. All up it will be in the neighbourhood of $2000, but I think about $600 to $700 of that is curtains! 2. My first meeting with the teachers of the courses I'm running went well. I was feeling a bit stressed about this, but am now thinking it should go pretty smoothly. 3. Debbie and I were talking about the fact that we have both levelled up as teachers - it's clear from our first weeks back that we are both now Level 3 teachers. Obviously not experts, but noticeably improved. 4. Unknown Armies on Thursday was excellent. It's looking like the game is going to be a lot of fun, although certain happy-go-lucky characters may end up making my character pull his hair out. Actually, given that we won't be based at the restaurant, it shouldn't be quite so bad, but being sandwiched between Debbie and Conan while they played through an average day at work, and having to try to be their shift manager, was Ha-ard. 5. The weekend is awesome. I got to sleep in this morning, and that is a glorious thing. I wouldn't say that I ever took my holidays for granted, but boy do I appreciate the arrival of Friday night when I'm working. There were other things, little things that I've forgotten, but in a few broad strokes that was my week. I have managed to learn all 29 names of my form class (I did this on the second day I saw them, by staring at the seating plan and saying to myself "John sits next to Gavin, Gavin sits next to Amelia..."). I haven't learned all the names of my other students, but they'll come. I am still quietly upbeat about this year - optimistic even. I can see that some parts of it are going to be difficult, but that other aspects will be quite rewarding. I am quite sure that whatever else happens, it will not be boring :)