Is it spring yet?
Mar. 13th, 2006 09:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spacealien_vamp"Classes" started up with a bit of a crisis... For all of March, the school is on a special schedule, first because of exams, and then afterward because the students have half days and book-buying days and all kinds of other things. The class schedule is printed up on three sheets of paper and handed out to all the teachers. One sheet has the schedule broken down by class (this is what the students follow), one by room (so teachers know what rooms are occupied when), and one by teacher. Thus, theoretically, the teacher can look at this third page and know what classes to attend. In fact, I always toss the other pages and just highlight my row on the teacher schedule.
Well, it turns out that, for the teacher who sits next to me, one of her scheduled classes was accidentally left off of the teacher version. We were just pulling out our lunches about halfway through fourth hour when a student showed up asking why she hadn't come to class. ^_^; The poor teacher, of course, didn't have a single thing planned. She asked me to come along and bring my Apples to Apples cards, so we played that for the remainder of the hour.
What I always find fascinating about playing Apples to Apples with non-English majors is the way they approach the game. The English majors are always so serious about trying to match the nouns with the adjectives properly. The non-majors, on the other hand, almost immediately start going for "joke" matches. They'll scan their cards for whichever one would be funniest...just like native speakers tend to do, actually.
Friday I was approached by the head of the English department, who announced that the Ritsumeikan native teacher is going to be taking over half of my senior Listening classes, and that we will be expected to keep our two halves synchronized. Okaaay...I don't mind having a lighter schedule, of course, but...why? Wasn't this the same person who needed someone to take over his classes last I heard? Oh, well. It was suggested that I could use the time thus freed up to teach the Michigan exchange student more frequently.
It stormed on Sunday, once again preventing me from doing the shopping I had planned. This has really got to stop. ~_~ I did, however, manage to wash a lot of dishes. In fact, I got to see the bottom of my sink for the first timesince I started playing Warcraft in a long while. ...I cooked right afterward, though, so it quickly filled up with pots and pans. (If only I could just stop eating, I wouldn't have this problem...)
And then today it snowed. <grumble> I thought we were done with that sort of thing for a while. This means I may have to go out and buy more kerosene.
Well, it turns out that, for the teacher who sits next to me, one of her scheduled classes was accidentally left off of the teacher version. We were just pulling out our lunches about halfway through fourth hour when a student showed up asking why she hadn't come to class. ^_^; The poor teacher, of course, didn't have a single thing planned. She asked me to come along and bring my Apples to Apples cards, so we played that for the remainder of the hour.
What I always find fascinating about playing Apples to Apples with non-English majors is the way they approach the game. The English majors are always so serious about trying to match the nouns with the adjectives properly. The non-majors, on the other hand, almost immediately start going for "joke" matches. They'll scan their cards for whichever one would be funniest...just like native speakers tend to do, actually.
Friday I was approached by the head of the English department, who announced that the Ritsumeikan native teacher is going to be taking over half of my senior Listening classes, and that we will be expected to keep our two halves synchronized. Okaaay...I don't mind having a lighter schedule, of course, but...why? Wasn't this the same person who needed someone to take over his classes last I heard? Oh, well. It was suggested that I could use the time thus freed up to teach the Michigan exchange student more frequently.
It stormed on Sunday, once again preventing me from doing the shopping I had planned. This has really got to stop. ~_~ I did, however, manage to wash a lot of dishes. In fact, I got to see the bottom of my sink for the first time
And then today it snowed. <grumble> I thought we were done with that sort of thing for a while. This means I may have to go out and buy more kerosene.
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no subject
Date: 2006-03-13 05:40 am (UTC)ROTFL!!
Things always seem to be so screwy there with jobs and expectations and communication...I'm sure American education has its own peculiarities and that a lot of this is just the different culture and all... Nonetheless I would seriously want to bang my head on the wall with some of the stuff that goes on!! It's a credit to how much you must love being there that you remain unfazed by it all :-)
no subject
Date: 2006-03-13 07:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-13 12:40 pm (UTC)I don't think it takes all day...but I think there are one or two periods set aside for it. That's why they can only have a half-day of regular "classes."
Wait no...It takes more than one day??
One day for each grade. Apparently they can't do it at the same time....
no subject
Date: 2006-03-13 12:46 pm (UTC)Oh, I have days like that from time to time, too. My schedule at the middle school changes every nine weeks. I remember to change my class lists, but I don't always remember that my class hours are changing, too. Habit... One change of terms the principal and vice principal were holding down the class while someone else ran to find me and tell me I had a class there. Lucky I was even in the building because I had been stopping at the high school first to get the classroom ready for class since the day had been starting with prep period. That day I happened to be in the middle school to get the new class lists. It's embarrassing.
It's interesting that the students came looking for their teacher. Once in our high school building a substitute teacher didn't show up for a teacher. No one realized it until fifth or sixth period. The kids just went in and behaved and studied until that hour when they had something on a bit too loud and another person peeked in.
Friday I was approached by the head of the English department...
That is strange. It doesn't make sense. Doesn't it make you want to say, "What is really going on here?"
We're getting that strange spring weather, too. There were tornado watches today. Right now it's sunny and gorgeous. it's supposed to be back in the 30s or 40s tomorrow. There are supposed to be strong winds tonight.
Dish washing and laundry are always in process. Once I realized that, it relieved a lot of stress I was putting on myself.