A Little Bit of a Slacker

But not really. I realize it has been a long while since I have posted anything about my Scottish adventures but, frankly (I threw that word in for those who will miss hearing me say it), I've been busy. Why so busy, you might be asking. Two words: School Started.

I have been warned a million times over that this year will feel awfully reminiscent of my first few years of teaching. The reality is, however, that this IS my first year of teaching. Teaching in the UK that is. Everything is new and different and I'm constantly playing catch-up. It is beyond fascinating to note the differences (and similarities) between my two schools. I'm hesitant to even suggest these are differences between an American education system and Scottish one because I know there are schools in the US I could be teaching at right now that would also feel like a foreign country.

Let's start at the very beginning...last Monday, August 17. And some things never change... For two days, I bonded with my fellow staffers as we sat through the traditional Back-to-School inservices. Yes, I will be careful not to walk on desks while hanging things in my room. I will wear gloves if a kid starts bleeding all over the floor. I will be sure to approach each lesson from an interdisciplinary viewpoint. I sat through mine (all the while wishing for time in my classroom) and very soon, all my dear American friends (and Gillian) will sit through theirs.

Perhaps the saddest thing about those first two days back, is that my room looked (and still looks) so sad compared to everyone else's. I had prepared myself in so many ways for this exchange but I never knew how much I would miss all my stuff. My students and I had a great talk about matter on the second day of school and I desperately wanted to have my cabinet of science goodies to pull out so we could do a spontaneous demonstration or experiment. But I had to redirect the discussion so I could track down supplies for another day. The end of the world? Hardly. But it was an unexpected glich.

As you will learn more about my students in future blogs, just know that our first week and a half together have been interesting but we are definitely on our way to forming a more cohesive classroom environment than existed the first few days of school. I never in a million years thought I would say this but - I miss having constant and expected contact with the parents. It is not the norm for a teacher to call a parent, jot them a quick email about the school day, etc. It definitely changes discipline approaches.

Now I know you are probably dying for me to return to the topic of Fruit Corners from a few weeks ago but you'll have to wait until tomorrow. It is 9:00 here and I'm actually going to go to bed. Exhaustion and a still rather sore shoulder are taking over right now.