Scott has a lot of knowledge and seems really passionate about his job. He came from Idaho and spent 8 years in the Navy. After that, he went to school for his education and has been teaching in different parts of Asia for about 24 years now. He has been giving me a lot of rescources and tools that may help out in the future. Right now, I am simply placing them on a shelf because I have too much on my plate.
Today, I just received my teachers edition text books for the classes I am teaching, and I just received my schedule yesterday. This is all with classes starting tomorrow. Currently, there is no guidance counselor at the school, so the scheduling issues have been placed on the principal and communications director. The principal's name is Simon Faulkner and he is from Canada. He has been at the school one year and I get the impression that this will be his last year and he will not renew his contract. I will write more about him later, but he is very laid back and it appears that nothing bothers him. Just rolling with the punches.
Which is exactly how I feel the school is going. I also do not have a curriculum or any real idea of what exactly I am required to cover in my classes. I feel things are a little unorganized, but returning teachers are telling me things are better this year than they were last year. I like the idea of doing what I want and having freedom to make the class my own, but I would also like some structure, especially as a first year teacher.
It seems that I have a great deal of freedom in my planning and class schedule. If that is the case, I am sure that I will learn a lot about making adjustments this first year. Learning on the fly or baptism by fire. No one is going to hold my hand and I am going to figure it out for myself.
I found out that I am teaching one section of 6th grade with 17 kids, two sections of 7th grade (pre-algebra) each with 13 kids and two sections of 8th grade (algebra) with 11 kids in each. The small class sizes are also pleasing. Hopefully this will allow for more one-on-one and better cooperative learning activities.
I have not had time to decorate my room yet (something that does not appear to be a major priority by many teachers at this time) since I have been running around getting books and other things. I did however take pictures of the room as it is today, which I have included here.
The class is small, but I do not have many students so that is fine.
One other thing that I have noticed about the school is that getting supplies is rather difficult. The service department has a very tight grip on the supplies and they do not see willing to release anything out to anyone without a great deal of paperwork and monitoring. Currently, I do not have a trash can in my room and they told me that is something that needed to be ordered and it will be there in a few days. Well, I guess that will be fine, we'll just throw the garbage on the floor.
I understand that not every school is perfect and every school has is going to have its own little qwirks, so I'm and taking this with a grain of salt. Things are going to be alright, its just a trash can. Overall, I am really positive about the school. I think it will be a great place to work and a lot of fun. But like I said, every school is going to have its qwirks. ASB's qwirks might be getting supplies.
More to come in the next few days, after speaking with the students and orgainizing the room a little more.
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