The view from my window

The view from my window ... Supplying all week for a basketball buddy who is on staff at JF Ross SS in Guelph.

It's an interesting turn of events, that's for sure, but not BAD interesting, more of a CURIOUS interesting since I had little to no idea what it wold be like to do an extended stay at a school that I have such a small footprint in. Even when I moved to BNC after a long stay at BCC, I knew people, was known by people, was familiar with the area, knew my way around the school, and didn't really feel anxiety in any form.

My BB buddy is Bill Price, a longtime teacher/coach at Ross. We met via the hardcourt after one of his players transitioned to more elite opportunities that I was involved in, then we built our friendship as we found ourselves facing each other across the timer's table. One thing lead to another and a quality bond of kinship materialized allowing us to share thoughts, opinions, strategies and jabs over the many years that have passed. When Bill had to be absent from class for a few days, he asked his admin if I could fill in. I was quite flattered that they would consent to an emergency supply taking an extended absence.

Prior to this week, I'd done a few days at Ross so I had a general idea of the layout for the school, but I was a definite unknown to the admin, staff and students so there was a small, albeit palpable, level of anxiety on that first day. Ross is a huge school! Way larger than schools in Simcoe County with a student population of just shy of 2200, and I let some of my unjustified, stereotypical anxieties get the better of me prior to that first day. 

Such a NEWB thing to do!

I am pleased to report that the experience has been stellar! I was tasked with delivery of a curriculum I had little experience with in two Gr10 histories and a G12 Challenge & Change, but at least I had a functioning knowledge of both. I should have known, but was pleasantly surprised, that kids are kids regardless of school size or community, and like the proverbial "riding a bike." I found my edu-mojo quickly. I would suspect that some of the credit for the smooth seas I was charting goes to Bill since he's quick with a smile, has great people skills, and is Uber intelligent, so I'd venture a guess that the kids were responding that way thanks largely to his previous guidance. Throughout the week we shared thoughts, opinions and quite a few laughs as we stumbled our way through some hyper-sensitive material like the Holocaust and organ donation. We even enjoyed the great outdoors for a writing session in JFR's quadrangle!

All in all, it was quite an enjoyable week!

To my former colleagues still attempting to stamp out the seeds of ignorance, I feel and see you and your daily grind combatting the siren's call of the device. Teaching these days is like herding cats, and I found my reflexive eye-roll to student opposition of the advice I was offering about their distraction levels didn't really warm them to me. As an aside, I did share a pretty cool graphic that I found whilst trolling the Interweb that graphically outlined the disruptive power of said devices, but some would've had to actually look up from their crotches to digest my message. The crux of the photo is a teacher who somehow bought the cooperation of her class to tally the device interruptions for an entire period. For us old geezers it's a powerful pic that sheds some light on the mental tug-of-war these teens and tweens are dealing with daily. 

Having said that, if that's my only complaint, I'm doing pretty gosh darn well.

Friday's my week's end, a gloriously sunny day, and while 4 days in a row is not a goal I would choose to set regularly, I'm glad that I could help out a friend, rekindle my edu-mojo, and gather a few shekels in the process.