First day teaching at my new school done! It might take a couple days to get my head around everything that was so great, some things that were not so great, and the entirely new math(s) vocabulary I learned today, but I'll do my best.
First, a general overview of the school. It has a 10-day (two week) timetable (schedule) for the boys to follow. Each day has six periods that are 50 or 55 minutes each. There is a 15 minute recess between periods 2 and 3, then a tutor session immediately after recess for about 30 minutes. Lunch is after period 4 and is about 38 minutes. Many boys have free periods, where they just hang out and do homework or eat. Lord, how they eat.
The uniform is a long-sleeved white dress shirt, a striped tie, a blazer, wool shorts, long socks, and black leather shoes. The blazer is mandatory even in hot weather. When it turns colder, they can wear a sweater (jumper) over the shirt and tie but under the blazer, and they switch to long pants.
It's a very sporty school. Extra curricular sport participation is mandatory, although not every sport practices every day. Most practice either Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday. Sport isn't mandatory across Australia, or even across the state. This is just something this particular school is known for. More than a few of their year 12 students go straight to the pros (rugby, footy, cricket) every year. You can tell if you look at some of the upperclasssmen - they are HUGE. Not one was shorter than me in my year 11 class. Boys are allowed to play, even if they're failing. Sport takes precedent over academics. The maths department offers help before school (7:30 - 8:30 AM) not after school, because sport practices are after school.
The boys each have their own laptop, provided by the school. I'm assuming that's a line item in their tuition somewhere, but the school maintains the laptops in case of broken screens, etc. For my Buford friends' amusement: the boys pay up to $200 for a broken screen, the rest is paid for by the school's insurance policy. Tech help is amazing. I went today to get help installing Java, and they guy said, "As long as you're here, let me install the TI-Nspire software." Took 10 minutes. Cheers, mate!
The boys have eight periods of maths every fortnight. It's not a regular schedule. For example, I saw my year 11 class 2nd period today, and I will see them 1st period Monday, not at all Tuesday, then a double period Wednesday (which totally blows, but it's my only double, so I will make it work).
I only saw my year 11 general maths and my year 10 standard/advanced maths students today. I also teach year 9 standard and year 9 accelerated, but won't meet them until Monday and Tuesday respectively.
So, about my day. First of all, the amazing. They boys all showed up on time. They stood behind their chairs at the beginning of class until I told them they could sit down. (I think we were supposed to start with a prayer, but I hadn't the faintest idea what prayer to say, and they boys said it was cool if we skipped it so . . .) They called me "Miss" before asking me any question. They THANKED ME after class for teaching them. Like, all of them, before they walked out of the room last period on a Friday, "Thank you miss." The manners . . . just wow. They were lovely. Again, for any of you who work at Buford, it was having a whole room full of Wilson twins, only more masculine and hairy and gigantic.
My colleagues are so very helpful. Emails returned immediately, resources shared, people stop what they're doing to help you out. I am lucky enough to have one of the tech gurus sharing my office, so any time I have a question, bam, there she is to help.
Because of the irregular schedule, very few if any teachers have one regular room. In a way this is awesome because I don't have to decorate. In a way, it's not so great, because you forget where you're going, and some rooms are missing whiteboard erasers or markers, so you have to carry your own. Each class meets in the same room every time, but I teach my four preps in four different rooms. As does everyone. And there's no real place to leave materials, so I'm schlepping my laptop, my notebook, a box of whiteboard markers, pens, etc, folders holding papers, and if you forget something in your office, you simply can't go back. Today I forgot my year 10 exit tickets. This could be tricky on Day 7 when I teach five classes.
The last bit of awesomeness is the school-assigned laptop/tablet I have. It's a Lenovo, and it has a twist around screen to turn into a tablet with a stylus if I prefer that. I can take attendance on it, show power points or one notes, display the TI-Nspire using the software. I think I can probably scan a worksheet then use the stylus to write on it, but haven't worked that out quite yet. The laptop hooks up to a projector via a cable, but I've been told I can also connect wirelessly, although I was not able to figure that out today. It would be terrific if I could, because I could be closer to more students rather than being chained to my laptop hooked up at the front of the room.
Now for the not-so-good. Really not much. The whiteboards aren't Smartboards - just a writing board and a pull-down screen. I was surprised there weren't Smartboards, given the advanced level of tech at the school, but it's a huge school (250 students per grade) so equipping every room would be a gigantic outlay of capital. No ELMOs either, so if I want to display a worksheet I'll need to scan it ahead of time to project it. If I want to show an operation on the calculator I'll use the calculator software (which is pretty darn good, especially if I get the wireless going, but it's learning how to do things differently that will take time). And I do love the ELMO.
My biggest disappointment today was finding out I will have to be an assistant volleyball coach. Don't everyone laugh at once. All teachers need to have some sort of supervisory duty with sport because it is such a big deal at the school. I wasn't on the original schedule, and had hoped I had dodged this particular bullet, but no. The boys practice Monday, 7 - 8 AM (that's right), and Wednesday 4 - 5:15 pm, plus the next six Saturday mornings at matches Bleah. My big problem - I have no one to watch Isaac and Ruth on Wednesdays until I can get to their school, and leaving them unsupervised until 5:45 when I get there just isn't an option. So I'm working on that.
Finally, my biggest challenge today. My school and my kids' school are 5 km. apart. My school is one of six large, private schools in a row, and they all dismiss at the same time. At 10 minutes past dismissal time, it took me 17 minutes to travel that 5 km because so many people are picking up kids or leaving school at once. I barely made it in the gate at the kids' school at 4 before they shut for Shabbat. I can't imagine it will get much better than that. I need a better plan.
Next post: Math in America vs. Maths in Australia. I have a lot to learn.
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