Wrestling for Control

This has been a hectic week - but not one without its share of successes. I have been sick with my standard fall head/chest cold. It started in the Ardennen 10 days ago and is still going strong. I started the week off on Monday with what felt like quite the failure. I had prepared a lesson for the most difficult second year (8th grade) class of the school and we ended up staying for almost half an hour after school to finish it. They would not stop talking or follow simple directions. I was pretty upset afterwards.

The next day I made some changes for the next class: added a seating chart, assigned groups instead of numbering off, and took attendance at the beginning. These things helped, but we still ended up staying for half an hour after school. It felt more under control though.

Wednesday I had the chance to try again with a new group. They had seen the other groups staying after school, so they knew I wasn't messing around. It worked. The lesson was simple. I split the class up into five groups and they each had to find the answers to some questions I gave them about DNA and present their answers to the class at the end.

By the time Thursday rolled around I had the first difficult group again. We talked about how things went on Monday and I informed them that we would be trying the whole lesson out again, or else they would be here after school. Again. Things started out a bit rough: I had to kick one especially difficult girl out because she would not sit in her assigned seat and she was fighting with the whole class because they told her she should. Kicking students out of class is a big no-no at Wolfert Pro.

After she left, things started rolling, and the kids did very well. Until the final two groups. Another big fight erupted which took us to the end of our time. So we stayed after school - but not for long. The students understood. I felt like I was bringing them around.

On Friday, I had the final of the four second year classes. I was feeling pretty sick and tired and it looks as though I won't be teaching this particular class for much longer because my schedule is about to be completely re-arranged. Needless to say, I didn't have the willpower do deal well with the behaviour issues. We finished the lesson by staying for an extra few minutes - I really didn't want to come back after school, although I probably should have. I did confiscate a few cell phones though.

One nice thing about Thursday and Friday is that the first-years came back from camp. It was good to have them back as they are much more fun to work with than the second-years - I hadn't seen them in a week and was starting to miss them! There is quite the difference between the two age groups.

I am a bit unsettled about next week as I don't really know what to teach, I don't know if I am teaching math alone or with the new teacher, and I don't know when my schedule will be re-arranged or how much time I will have with the students in classrooms. In light of all this, planning is a bit difficult.

Yesterday we had a very nice day. Naomi and I went out to lunch and played squash with Clifton, the gym teacher, and his girlfriend. They are a very nice couple to spend time with and we are already talking about spending some of summer vacation together.

After that we went to the market, Little Italy (an italian grocer), and the library. The library here is a big disappointment. It looks beautiful - right in the center of town with a very open, comfortable five stories. The problem is that it costs 36 Euros a year to be a member. I was willing to accept that, but after signing up we discovered that to borrow a single DVD costs 2 Euros. I am afraid to try to learn the process/cost for borrowing a CD.

Sometimes...I really, really miss Ann Arbor. Life seemed a whole lot simpler. Things were more accessible. Lots of tasty food choices whenever I wanted. Shops were open when I needed them to be. I had a car. I didn't feel like I had to jump through a million hoops just to get something simple like a cell phone or running shoes. On the upside though - I do have a phone now and pay, get this, 6.25 per month. I have 150 minutes and 100 text messages - but am only charged for what I send...for when I call. I guess living here is like anything else in life: a series of trade-offs, some good, some not-so-good.