That was today. The school I work at has a weird schedule, or at least weird to me. It runs on a 6 day cycle and each day is different. So today, as the first day of school, was Day 1, tomorrow is Day 2, Monday is Day 3, and so on. Then on next Friday we start over at Day 1. Each day the students, and teachers, have a different schedule. In my case I teach chemistry and pre-algebra and I see both classes four times in a cycle. This year we also changed the schedule so it’s closer to block schedule. Each class is an hour long and there is no built in passing time. In other words the classes do not end 5 minutes before the next one starts, they end when the teacher is done. This is good because it keeps the students from telling you every 30 seconds that class is almost over. It’s bad because the teacher has to keep a closer eye on the clock.
Today being a Day 1 I had both of my pre-algebra sections and one of my chemistry sections. I planned for this day to be basically going over the rules and expectations, reviewing the syllabus and telling them what they need tomorrow. Actually for pre-algebra it will be tomorrow but for the chemistry section it won’t be until Monday. Tomorrow I see the other 3 sections of chemistry.
Last year I had a whole presentation of rules and things that I went over and ended up throwing out after a few weeks. So over the summer I sat and revamped it trying to include things I really wanted in there and get rid of the things that didn’t work for me anymore. As I was giving the presentation today I found some more things that I ended up dumping on the spot. I also realized, as I was giving the presentation, I realized that some of the stuff I had there needed to be held for a later date. My pre-algebra classes are only 7th grade and I need to go over procedures with them at the time. I adjusted my presentation on the fly today and gave the overview of the routines but quickly realized that I will not only have to go over them again and again, but introduce new procedures when we need them.
Overall the first day went okay. For chemistry I had them do a little activity to show how easily things can be contaminated without them even knowing it. It was fun and I think it made the point. It also got them out of their seat and moving which is always good.
Tomorrow the 7th graders will start putting their notebooks together and I will make the presentation to the rest of the chemistry sections. It should be a good day.
I am exhausted this week. I am super glad that tomorrow is Friday and am looking forward to the weekend.