It's June already?

Wow. I always intend to keep this up, but I always get caught up in the day to day and have a hard time sticking with it. this year was especially tough since I came in to the year so late and had to catch up as fast as possible.

I had a good year overall. November and December were a bit rough -the students tested me and pushed me. Around late January, though, things started gelling. I think the students realized that I wasn't leaving, figured out that I'm pretty laid back, and decided to commit themselves to the class, or at least most did.

February was weird for me. I was used to a semester schedule, where all the classes switch at the break and we have totally different classes. It's stressful and crazy and generally annoying. Here, however, most classes are full year classes and very few people moved in or out of my class. The exceptions were kids who needed a specific class at a conflicting time, kids who only needed to make up first semester moved out, or kids who needed to make up second semester moved in. It was rather stress free.

I am glad that the schools out here picked up the Mid-winter break idea. Winter is tough to get through without a break and it's a long time until April.

I think I did a better job with my juniors this year in terms of creating a cohesive class. The freshman curriculum is sort of random anyway, so sticking to a theme is tough. The American Dream, however, is much easier. I even liked our final essay in that class - what is their definition of the American dream and is it realistic?

Overall, it was a pretty good year. I really hope that I can teach here again next year. I've never felt so at home at a school, so in line with the overall philosophy and work ethic. I'm excited to be here and hopefully that will continue next year.