And in other news...

Dear Floyd,

As requested....

Sincerely,
A

My schedule, with additional commentary included.

Period 1: Spanish
I am not a Spanish teacher. I have never been to Spain. I do not speak Spanish. I do not enjoy teaching Spanish. But I do it anyways. In my Spanish class, there are 2 Confederate boys, 2 Koreans, 1 Indian, 1 Russian/Afghani/Chinese/Filipino, and 3 Americans. (The 2 Confederates are American too. So technically, there's 5 Americans, though most have spent most of their lives outside of America and would not claim to be American). We speak a mixture of several different languages more than we speak true Spanish. And the Spanish always has a..... unique.... accent. Surprisingly, one of the Koreans has the best Spanish pronunciation. I've heard rumor that he started the class last year, then dropped it.

Period 2: Math 7
These kids eat straight bowls of sugar for breakfast, I'm convinced. All of them are pleasers, so it's not too hard to keep class under control. But they would clearly rather be pretending to be inchworms on the floor or attempting to juggle three fuzzy dice in one hand or using farting noises as a form of communication. After period 2, I am ready for a nap.

Period 3: Algebra II (11th grade)
There are 7 of them, and our whole class has only ever met together 3 times. Someone is always sick, on any given day. This is easily my most chill class. Being upperclassmen, they're just more mature than my other kids, and so I can be really lax with them. Since they're in 11th grade and are just now taking Algebra II, they have labeled themselves as "bad" at math, so that's tricky to work around, but they know how to work hard and play hard, and I love them. Third period is always a good time.

Period 4: Prep
This is a block period. On Tuesdays, I teach Spanish during this period, which is like torture. You can't learn a language for 90 minutes. There's a point at which you just stop absorbing. And it's right before lunch, which makes it seem about 248 times as long.

Lunch
I jaga (guard) the girls dorm food every day at lunch. The dorm pembantus set it out, buffet style, in the lunch pavilion, and I just have to make sure that the 7 dorm girls are the ONLY people taking the food. The plus side is that I get a free hot lunch every single day. The down side is.... umm... I don't think there is one. Maybe the fact that we have chicken legs at least 2 times a week. I don't like dark meat.

Period 5: Algebra II (9th grade. And one 8th grader)
This is the class of brilliant kids. The kids who will take geometry next year, Pre-Calc after that, and AP Calculus their senior year. There is one American in the class. There is one Dutch girl in the class. The rest are Asian. Because Asians are good at everything. Asians always get a 4.0. When I grade the Asian kids' papers, I just put 100% on the top. I don't even have to check it. OK. That's a lie. I check it. But the 100% part is true. (BTW, there are NO Asian kids in the 11th grade Algebra II class. Because they are all brilliant enough to take it in 9th grade.) This is also the quietest class I have. Like, they never talk. I ask, "What is 1 + 1?" And they all get REAL interested in whatever is happening on the floor all of a sudden. They are excellent note takers, and if I am working an example problem on the board, most of them have already solved the problem before I am done writing it down. Of course, no-one will volunteer an answer, except for the rare occasion in which someone chooses to whisper it at a decibal that not even God Himself can hear.

Period 6: Prep
This is the second block period of the day. This is the period in which I actually do work because by this point, I realize that if I don't do it now, I will have to stay after school.

Overall... Teaching is good here. I can't imagine ever truly enjoying teaching in the States after being in a place like this, where discipline is never an issue, where I am always shown respect, where I can be friends with my students, where I can hang out with them outside of school and a lawsuit is not involved, where I have a support system of Godly teachers who would do anything for me, and where summer never ends.