sorry so long--it's been hectic
Much has happened since I last posted. And basically, I was just tired and no desire to write. Ah well. So here I go again.
Parent/teacher conferences were two Fridays ago. That was . . . interesting. I was really nervous about it since I haven't ever had parent/teacher conferences (parents of college students rarely ask to meet with professors, and at my last school we didn't have them for high school). It was rather better and worse than I expected. Better in that parents usually initiate discussion and have open-minded questions about their children (at least the parents at this school); worse in that it is really hard to take any type of questioning/criticism with out being defensive. I really had to steel myself and continually remind myself that it isn't personal. And I have one mom who really comes across as being attacking when she is bringing up things she doesn't like or has questions about. After talking with my advisor, I realize that it's mainly her personality, but it made me feel very much put on the defensive. And that it a place where I have to be very vigilent lest I say something I would later regret! But otherwise it went well. I feel much better about the next ones because I'm more prepared for what I need to keep track of and what parents want to know.
The next Monday, we had "Parent Day," which as a day for the parents to just see an average class day at all levels of the school. That was nervous-making because of the watching-me-teach deal. But it was fun. That was the day we talked about black holes in science. By the way, I love the way we do science--every few weeks we have an 'immersion week' for science (usually it is Bible class). This week has become two weeks and will bleed into Bible class next week--we're doing astronomy and we love it so much. We've covered galaxies, black holes, general relativity in space, star types and make-up, the Sun, and we're up to Saturn in the solar system. It is immensely fun. In History we are up to Lincoln in 6th grade and the Salem witch trials in 5th. All very interesting and fun. Literature still remains vaguely difficult, but it's going all right.
The upper school kids have a love/hate relationship with this blog: they are enamored of the fact that I talk about them on it, bitter that I won't tell them where the blog is so they can read what I say. :) I've got to have some leverage, right?
Basketball is going well. Our first game is tonight and I am really, really, nervous. It's knowing when to substitute that realy gets to me. Generally I have two full teams, so I could just switch them completely out every quarter (like hockey), but one of my guards is injured and I have two players that are attendance-impaired, so I have to make choices. And rotate players. Complications!!! Well, I've overwashed it in prayer, so. . . .
That is the basic jist of life at this time. I'm counting the days until Thanksgiving Break--and I'm sure my kids are, too!