Strange Feeling … It’s my last (Insert text)

This is me in Grade 9, BABY, this is me in Grade 9!

Tomorrow marks my journey down the path of educational lasts in a long line of things. It will most obviously begin with my last first day … is that an oxymoron? I’ll get up at 5:55 am, something I haven’t been doing for a while, dress myself in my Viking best (Barrie North’s mascot BTW), and set about making a great first impression with my last classes. I am teaching a G10 and G9 HPE (Phys Ed) plus a G11/12 Photography, courses I have taught in the past. They are a gift from my principal since he was kind and thoughtful enough to ask me for my wish list when he was staffing the school last year. I had no guarantee he could work the magic, but unless the ministry’s announcement from last week drastically changes things, those will them.

I really like the opening week of school. I liken meeting my classes to a newly married couple and that week is the Honeymoon. It’s a “finding out if this will work” period for both the class and me. I have one serious drawback as a teacher … I’m really good with faces but not so much with names. This is not stressful for me since I have embraced that fault, but some students allow their feelings to be hurt when I confess to them I’ve forgotten their name ... multiple times. I ask each class to be patient with me, but some still allow the disappointment to creep into their eyes. This will be the last time that will pose a problem for me, from an educational standpoint. It will still happen when we bump into each other out there in the “real” world, but as time creeps on, those former students seem less hurt by my, "What was your name again?".

As I previously wrote, I will not be coaching in my school this semester. It will certainly feel odd since it has been a part of my career for a really long time. What non-coaching people don’t know is that for every hour spent on the court/field/pitch, I spend ½ hour planning, doing paper work, or organizing resources. Think about it like this … I would normally be coaching girls’ basketball which normally has three 1½ practices for a total of 4½ hours which I have confessed is matched with about 2 hours of off-court stuff. That’s 6½ hours I will gain back to donate to my classes without factoring in exhibition/tournament/league games! My wee brain is busy dreaming up ways to use those minutes right now! And the added bonus will be that once we are in October, I won’t be pulling double duty because I won’t have the Sr Boys’ team bothering me to get runs in. I’ll miss all of this 100%, but I’m eager to experience the change!

One of the things that I have been thinking about to replace those minute-stealers is to get out to more events and capture North’s students in action as they represent the school in a variety of activities. Some of you reading this will not know that I’m an avid (albeit amateur) shutterbug who loves to cover sporting events. I get grief every year from the athletes whose games/matches I couldn’t fit in with coaching other teams that they’d love some of my shots too. Since I love taking the pics and the kids love getting them, it’s a win-win. That’s the plan anyway ... If you're interested in seeing them, go to the Barrie North site (Click Here) and follow the link on the scroller.

I can easily forecast a few posts surrounding my last set of “Meet the Creature” interviews, my last set of midterm reports, my last exams and my last final reports … I’m filled with butterflies just thinking about the reality of all that! Stay tuned!