And so it begins...

I went to bed at 9:30 last night exhausted from the week. We started school on Monday and finished a full week of school with Open House for parents last night. It feels like we've been in school for a month rather than a week! And yes I'm working today to finish getting ready for Monday! :) Things are going well though, it's always tiring as you get back into the routine of school, plus I've been lecturing all week, all day.

I am teaching 6 classes this year. I have taught them all before with the exception of Philosophy & Ethics. Philosophy is the Bible alternative class. I was very surprised at the amount of interest the students had in philosophy, over half of the students who could, chose philosophy. This year I again only have the 8th through the 12th grade. We are revamping our social studies department (per my request) so I am teaching one class twice, meaning I only have 5 preps.

I have a total of 57 students, but about 12 of those students I teach twice. Some are in my philosophy class and others are taking two social studies credits for graduation. My largest class is 15 and my smallest class is 6. My 57 students are from 19 different countries. They are: USA, Romania, South Korea, Ireland*, Nigeria, Jordan, Italy, Japan, Britain, Canada, Brazil, Iran, Greece*, Iraq, Sweden*, Albania, Macedonia, Philippines, and South Africa. [*Countries I have never had a student from.] We have never had a Greek student at our school and we have three new students from Greece this year. Ilias is so cute, he looks exactly what a little Greek boy should look like! (And his last name has at least 15 letters!) There is a lot of tension between Greece and Turkey and Greece and Macedonia. I worried a little at first how that would work, because my Macedonian students are always VERY vocal about their feelings about Greece, but then I remembered what our students are like. The international setting changes things and they put aside those national biases. Japan and Korea do not traditionally have a good relationship, but not so in our school. Ilias (Greek) and Mehmet (Turkish) have become fast friends [which is how it used to be decades ago - Birds Without Wings, great book I'm reading right now, deals with some of those issues].

I am really missing my students who left last year, but I am enjoying getting to know the new students. One of my students, Ben, told me that China (she's American) is a little me; in class the first two days he kept turning around trying to figure out why I was in that class and realized it was China. She's from Tennessee, so between her accent and mannerisms, Ben has decided she's the younger me.

That also reminds me of a random thought, reason #88 why I can't live above the Mason-Dixon line, the use of ma'm and sir. Last night I was talking with several teachers, I was mentioning how China always says yes ma'm and no ma'm. Immediately following that comment at the same time I said "I love it," and Jen (who is from Massachusetts) said "I hate it." I am still amazed by the cultural differences in the United States. We've had several very interesting discussions at home lately. Apparently I have a little too much state and regional pride!

Sorry I don't have any pictures to post yet, I've been falling down on my photographer duties. I am going to try to get some pictures of the kids this week. By the way, I also really like the new teachers. Malka, how is Arab-American, is our new 5th grade teacher. I really like her, Jenna said Malka was the elementary me. She loves history, is super type A organized, and loves to talk about politics. On a really sad note, my good friend Stacey, our first grade teacher, will be leaving us soon due to visa issues. I completely understand why she is going and support her decision, but I'm really going to miss her.