Week 2, Year 2

What a difference a year makes.  (This blog is not about Phil Gee.)  I had a general sense that things were going better this year than last year, but it wasn't until I went back to read what I had written about my first week that I can really tell just how different it is.  (http://hmellows.blogspot.com/2011/09/first-week.html)

I have been spending some time thinking about why and how it is different and these are some of the things I have come up with:

1) I know what comes next.  In the curriculum, in the day, in the flag ceremony, my control freak nature is not continually out of balance in a world of endless uncertainty.
2) I can pronounce their names.  Not all of them, of course.  I have a startling number of Aybikes (moon princess) and even an Ufuk (the future's hope), but enough Merts, Berks, Emres and Damlas to feel pretty confident when reading the list.
3) I know how long 40 minutes is, and it isn't that long.
4) I get to ride the bus with Phil Gee.
5) I have my stuff and my routine, neither of which I had at this time last year.  Even with the new shoes I got last weekend, it is a significant thing to teach in clothes that I feel comfortable in.
6) I have friends.  Ok, I had friends last year, but I didn't really know them.  I feel more relaxed and like I can be myself a bit more.
7) I don't teach any 11s, other than homeroom.  I think this is key, but perhaps it wouldn't be so bad this year. 
8) Not everything is new.  I am surprised at how tiring new is, when it is all the time.  No wonder babys sleep a lot. 

I have many more students this year, in part because I teach one extra section, and it part because my homeroom isn't a class that I teach, so even though I only see them for 10 minutes four days a week, they are still another set of names to know.  I have four sections of Intro Chem (3 lise 9 and 1 lise 10) and one section of Advanced Chem (L10) for a total of 22 'hours' plus homeroom, which is instead of duty. I have four students that I knew from last year.  Two of my intro kids have come back to me for advanced and two of my L10s from last year are in my homeroom.  It is nice to see these familiar faces in class and others in the halls.  It is starting to feel a bit more like I belong here. 

This is a picture of Phil Gee in a Turkish play last fall