Do I count down the days?

I guess I do.

So, I really only have 5 more teaching days before the end of my teaching term. The way my schedule works is that I teach all day for one day, and the next day I have a full day of prep time. It seems like it would be glorious, but when you're not the hyper-organized, goal-setting, "I'm going to spend 3.57 hours on this activity before spending 1.32 hours on this activity" kind of guy, the whole-day prep is never as productive as it should be, even when I feel like I've worked extermely hard the whole time.

But, oh joy, oh bliss, it's the weekend. This week was extremely long, and when you teach grade 10's on Friday afternoon from 12:30-3:30, it's kinda hard to keep their attention, especially in a computer lab when they're doing research for their research projects. Thus, the frustration. I literally went into the office yesterday and did the biggest jumping heel click in the world... you know, the type you used to see in old musicals when young men receive a smooch on the cheek from the bird they've been chasing? Yuppers, that was me. The girls in the office got a kick out of it, but the head of our science department, who was standing close by, asked, "Does this mean that you don't like teaching, Mr. M?" I responded by saying, "Absolutely not, Mr. P! I LOVE teaching... It just means that I like Friday's MORE!" I thought this was clever, but he looked at me with this suspicious, "I don't know about you, Mr. M" sort of look. Oh well, can't please 'em all! :)

But I've officially received all of my Term 1 Summative Reports for this practicum, and the reviews were all pretty much top-notch. All my sponsors are generally happy with what I'm doing, and with a really good Term 1 report from all of them (1 Uni advisor and 2 sponsor teachers), I can start applying for jobs as of February if I want. Whether I do or not is a totally different story, but it's nice to know that I'm doing well enough to have the option. And every day I'm able to come home and know that I really like the kids I teach. I had a great tutorial after school with a bunch of the keeners in my class on Wednesday, and after getting creative with my test-writing to make it a little more entertaining, I received a good response from the Socials class that, in reality, could've gone really awry if I didn't try to provide some comic relief once in a while.

Although this isn't where I'm going to make my million, I've been really happy with how everything's gone (stress and all)... this is also easy to say now that I'm nearly done this term. The story may not be the same come April when I have 3 new sponsor teachers PLUS my Uni advisor. Only five more days... five more days... five more days.... :)

- T