Finally!

Hi everyone! Sorry that it has taken me so long to post an update…my internet connection has not been cooperating! But I finally got a chance to get on and I have a lot to say so here goes…

I’ve made it through 4 weeks of teaching! I can hardly believe it. They have me teaching grade 11 English and grade 12 Life Skills. There are eight 40-minute periods in a school day and most days I’m teaching for at least six of those periods. It’s exhausting…by 1:30 I’m usually ready for a nap.

My schedule has been set since I arrived up north, but some of my friends at other schools are still waiting on a final schedule. I have to say that overall I seem to be faring pretty well in my placement. Not only is my school pretty organized, but my living situation is very satisfactory too. I’m not living at the Ritz, but I have running water (it’s cold, but it’s kind of nice since it’s always hot) and that counts for a lot. My biggest problem was a fridge that actually got hotter when plugged in, but the ministry has since brought me a new fridge that keeps my food cold.

***update…my schedule has actually now changed, twice, and I think it’s going to change again next week. I spoke too soon.

This past week has been especially busy. Two weekends ago I had some learners help me clean up the library, which has made me the de facto librarian. So every afternoon after school I have to be in the library until around 5. The learners have a mandatory after school study hour from 2:30 to 3:30 and the English Club started meeting on Thursdays during that hour. Somehow I ended up being in charge of fundraising activities for the debating club so that they can travel. So we’re going to do some movie nights, a bake sale, a raffle…any other ideas that I’m missing? Also, I woke up too early on Saturday morning and am now in charge of the women’s basketball team. I have absolutely no basketball skills, so this should be interesting. If nothing else they’ll be fit, since I’ll make them run and do lots of push-ups (that’s a shout out to you, Uncle Sean!).