A Fresher Mind

I got a good night's sleep last night, and recovered from the angry lump in my throat (which I received during the day from a few difficult students), and so now I am posting anew.

Before I begin, a point to note on the last post is that I didn't intend the word 'stuffed' to indicate that I was stuffed because Chrystal was pregnant (after re-reading that, I realised how it sounded and was annoyed, because I would never be that crass about something so important). I simply and purely meant that I was absolutely fragged, and thus didn't even notice the possible insinuation.

So yes! I will be a father, beginning from around about the date of December 8th. I can't believe it yet - it is such a difficult concept to get my head around. I think it sinks in through stages: first you start trying, and you go "Hmmm..."; then you find out that it has happened, and you go "Oh!"; then you start telling other people and you go "Hang on...."; and then the next step will be when Chrystal starts showing and the baby starts kicking, and then I'll be like "Oh my goodness...". When the bub's actually born I think I probably be speechless, jaw dropped. I'm not sure you can even begin to verbalise the thought process, if there is one.

In other stuff, I started teaching at Plenty Valley the Monday before last, and it is going very, very well. My Year 8's are beautiful - we're doing What's Eating Gilbert Grape at the moment, which they love, and they also love hearing my stories of the last place I used to work (ie. the Special School). I'm teaching them a heap, not just about studying film, but about disability, autism and intillectual disorders. I hope to be able to show them that people who are different from them, maybe a little bit slower, can still be amazing people.

My Year 10's are fantastic. My little sister is in this class, and she is a gem, and all her friends are wonderful. Either because of her, or because these guys are maturing a little more, I have a really good relationship with most of the people on this year (I also have a Year 10 home group). I value them as people and want them to succeed, and they in turn value me as a teacher and give me the respect I need to be able to run a good class.

My Year 9's are a little different. One class, who I only have for one period a week, are difficult to manage. They are the ones who rattled my cage yesterday afternoon. I rattled their cage back >:), and they can expect a heck of a lot more where that came from. I plan to walk into that class a very angry teacher, and dare them to give me schtick.
Anyway, my other Year 9 class is coming along. Apparently this class has been trouble all the way from Year 7, but them and I have struck a happy bargain. I put into practice the theory of 'negotiated curriculum', where I sat down with them, discussed what we needed to cover for the rest of the year, and then negotiated with them what they woul like to do more of, less of and other things that they want to do altogether. They responded really well to this, and it was great for me to be able to give them some power in terms of what they learn during the year. Then I told them the flip side of this though, and said that if they continued to give me grief, then I would pull out my grammar books and we would sit there in silence for the rest of the year doing exercises. You could've heard a pin drop. So I'm excited to see how this pans out.

So, at the moment I have my Year 9 exams to mark, plus Year 9 Christian Ed and Year 8 English assignments. Should have it done very soon, and then I can enjoy my holidays!