Day 1: Ped Day (which I learned stands for "Pretty Erratic Discussions")
Well, today was an easy day to survive since it was a day with NO kids. I always thought ped days were simply days off - but teachers actually have to show up and "work" on those days.
I've worked in some cool places since I graduated from Engineering school 10 years ago. I've always been in the business-corporate-let's-make-some-money-to-survive world and suddenly, I find myself listening to teachers debate about whether to fine ($1)those students who leave their books (dictionaries mainly)at school over the summer... Same discussion every year apparently... A few short months ago, I was trying to fix timelines and budgets because the FDA wanted a small change to a clinical oncology protocol - this "small" change had repercussions in the $1M range for a certain project I was managing. Did I drive in to work on a different planet this morning? Will I be able to survive 20 more ped days and be genuinely concerned about these students matters? Will I miss the boardroom discussions and challenges I am so used to?
Tomorrow is not a real day. It's the back-to-school half day - complete with a corn roast and all. I do have to be in class at 8:30AM though but since I only have 1 hour with two differents groups, I will simply introduce myself and have the kids complete a short form I've put together.
I can imagine all the REAL teachers out there laughing at me as they read this, but that's the great thing about internet - I CAN'T SEE YOU LAUGH AT ME!!!
So, in this form, I ask the kids to tell me their favourite color, TV show, music, sport, restaurant, hobby and school subject. I'm thinking (these are my inexperienced-naive-I-can-do-it-all positive thoughts) that I will be able to include their interests and favorite things in my lectures and projects somehow.
After I'm done with school, we are bringing my dad's boat to a different yatch club, where it will be hoisted out of the water and hauled away to Connecticut to its new owner...
