Thursday, September 4, 2014

September 4, 2014

Classes started this week and I’m actually pretty excited to be able to say I’ve met the students.  They don’t seem that different than high school students anywhere else in the country, but the honors ones seem like they’re going to be a lot more fun to teach.  I’m excited to be able to have real conversations with them that aren’t dependent on their being able to behave like humans.  I don’t miss the students or the atmosphere at DP, where everyone felt stifled and it wasn’t a place you could actually be for a long time.  However, I do miss a bit of the structure and getting to have lesson plans ready for earlier than the day before.  I also don’t quite feel like I’m in control of this curriculum, and I’m missing the feeling at ESA where I was actually in charge of what was going to be taught.  I wasn’t necessarily the best teacher ever, but I have since improved drastically and in that improvement have also learned about better teaching and administrative environments.  I have genuinely appreciated the variety of experiences I’ve had, because they have shaped who I am as a teacher as well as who I am as a person. 

On a separate note, I had an incredible time in Chicago during Labor day weekend, getting to spend some time with Serena, and explore a new city with Sacha.  It was really nice to get to spend a few hours in a science museum and to get to make liquid nitrogen ice cream and play with toys made for everyone.  I think if the science museum idea could be more widespread, or more museums were like large playgrounds, that would generate a greater interest in science in the population as a whole.  (I LOVE science museums!)


Separately from that, I HATE finding housing in NYC, and the nightmare that it’s been for the past month and a half.  From searching through tons of apartments until finding one that feels right to being at a lease signing to find that the terms I asked for wouldn’t be met to losing that apartment because I waited overnight to signing a different lease for another apartment I liked to potentially losing that one because of drama between the management company and the broker, I’m just tired of the struggle that this has been and not willing to continue fighting so hard for a crappy apartment in a neighborhood for an equivalent commute. 

No comments:

Post a Comment