* I was super proud of my year 7 English class this week. I gave them two full class periods to research different elements of the Holocaust (we're going to start reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas on Monday), and I wasn't sure if they were going to actually be ready to present on Friday. But, despite some technical errors and not completed powerpoints, they covered all of the things that I wanted them to cover and they were fearless presenting in front of the class! Plus the one kid that I was most concerned about was able to present without so much as a powerpoint! It was awesome.
* I taught my first geography lesson Friday and it was kind of a hilarious fail. I did everything that was planned, but not necessarily in order. Actually, that's not all my fault because the person who planned it didn't write up a lesson plan. Hahaha! I get to plan the lesson for Wednesday, so that should be fun.
* I found out my EA supervisor is coming on Wednesday (the 21st). I teach English, year 8 History, and a Geography class on Wednesdays, so the teachers I work with in those classes are all about having me teach, like, a sparkly lesson. And by sparkly, I mean one that is extra exciting for the students and really well planned, and all that jazz.
* I still can't get over the ridiculousness that is the schedule at this school. When I first met my CT he told me that the school operates under the theory that students learn best in the morning. So..... lunch is at 1:20. There's 6 periods a day, and 5 of those periods happen before lunch. I think that's just plain silly. If they want the students to learn better, shouldn't they start school earlier instead of push lunch later? Maybe that's just me.
* I had my first relatively challenging class period on Friday with my year 8 class. It was really a bunch of factors that made it challenging, but in the end I came out of it feeling like I must have a pretty good relationship with my students. Basically, all they wanted to do was chat with me and not do what I had planned, so I kind of had to strike a balance between the two. Plus, I had taught the same lesson the day before to a different year 8 class, and then made some changes to the structure. But the changes didn't work out so well, and I think that was mostly because the year 8 class from Friday is so different than the year 8 class on Thursday. Chalk it up to experience!
* Have I mentioned how my apartment seems to be smack-dab in the center of siren city? But what I mean is, basically every hour of the day there's some vehicle with a siren that goes by. I don't think it's because I live in a crappy area. I think it might actually be that I live near a police (Policie in Czech) station or a fire station.
* Grocery stores! Moira asked me about grocery shopping in Prague as opposed to home a few weeks ago and I wanted to mention it. So, in Prague I haven't been to a single grocery store that didn't have less than two aisles of meat. I'm not kidding. There's a grocery store next to the bus stop I get off of for school, and it has two meat counters and two separate aisles of meat. The Tesco I like to frequent in the city center has two massive meat counters and four or five aisles of meat. And there's another Tesco that's near my apartment that has one long meat counter and two long aisles of meat. It'd be awesome if I wasn't a vegetarian. hahaha
* I ate at my first restaurant in Prague this week. On Tuesday there was an info night for the pre-IB students which meant that all the department heads (my CT included) had to stay until 7:30 or so. So I went with him and a handful of other teachers to this restaurant near the school called Do-my-nos. I got some tofu and jasmine rice or something like that. I've eaten at a sandwich shop since I've been here, but that hardly counts. This restaurant was the first actual sit-down place I've been since I got here! It was good, too, so that's a plus.
* I actually cleaned my apartment today (like, the bathroom and mopping the floors and everything!) which means that (a) I am happy because it's not a mess, and (b) I feel like I actually live here. I organized my stuff better, which makes it feel more like my own space. So that was cool.
* And, finally, I plugged my iPod in to my computer last night and it basically erased all of the music I had on it. It's now transferring all my purchases on to my computer, which is about 1,000 songs but I had something like 20 gigs of music. And most of it wasn't purchased off iTunes. So.... that really sucks. That means I don't have any Hanson music now. Sad, sad day. Or SFU or Vic Police or Worlds or any other piping stuff. Bahhhh. I mean, luckily the songs aren't like gone, gone because it's all still on my computer at home. But I won't get to sync my iPod with it until I get home in two months!! :(
Now that I've sufficiently written a full-length essay, I should probably go do some lesson planning. I'm starting with a "Structured Academic Controversy" about Columbus for my year 8s, and then moving on to a lesson on the Battle of Hastings for my year 7s. Then I have 5 other lessons I have to plan (for Monday - Wednesday), not to mention a "scheme of work" (i.e. unit plan) for my year 7 English class. And that's not including anything beyond Wednesday. Just another day being a teacher! :)
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