Back in the Game

Well, I’ve been thinking for a while about what I should write for a post, but nothing substantial has come to mind. At first I wanted to post a big message complaining about how busy I am and how crappy my school schedule is, but it seems like a waist of time to be thinking and typing about that. I think the problem is that I’ve been thinking about posting too much instead of just typing. Anyways, here is what’s happened lately.

School has started and I’ve already handed in an 8 page report on my observations at PGSS during the first week of high school. Don’t let the number of pages make you think that I put a lot of work in…my only real strength is that I can type really fast and I got good at writing my thoughts from my trip to Europe. My observation report was just a whole lot of things I noticed and then a quick story or reflection on what it meant to me. It’s was exactly what they wanted though.

It seems like I always take on too much. I’m getting my bus license, making a video for the hospital, going to school, working three nights a week, going to youth group, going to young adults group, and trying to stay in touch with friends who do not live in PG. Last week was crazy for me…I felt like everything was out of control and that I was just stuck on the ride. It’s kinda like those stupid ‘virtual adventure’ rides that you can go on…I hate those things mostly because I get so sick on them. You get inside, sit down, strap yourself in, and the attendant closes the door and you hear a big thud as the door is locked. And then you’re trapped for the duration of the ride. Some weeks feel like that for me. But, this week was a bit different. On Thursday I stayed home for most of the day and just sat at my computer or in a chair and read some books, replied to some emails and printed off some homework. It was a very relaxing day. Jane came over to borrow my internet connection for a while (so that she could download some Stargate episodes). It was interesting…we sat across the table from one another while working on various things and we didn’t say more than a few words to each other, but looking back I enjoyed having her company even though we didn’t really say anything….I don’t know…maybe it’s a guy thing. At any rate, I’m going to have to try and fit one of those ‘catch-up’ days into my schedule every week…it was very therapeutic.

The coming weeks should be pretty fun. I have some assignments for class that might be a bit interesting, but mostly I’m excited about making up a series of lessons for a unit in math 12 called Combinatorics. I’m hoping that I can find some good examples and real world applications of Combinatorics so that I can make my classes a little bit more interesting. I was thinking about why I want to work so hard at making it interesting…it’s not because I want to outdo the teacher that I’m taking over for…it’s because I want to outdo myself. Last February when I was teaching at Kelly Road I had a bunch of cool stories and real world applications that seemed to really help me to get the students to buy into what I was teaching…they actually though what I was teaching them might be useful. Anyways, I hope to give it my all for this unit and see what happens.

Well, that’s about enough for this post…I have turned over a new leaf and I plan to post a bit more often. My motto ‘Start slow and taper off ‘ is taking a back seat to my new motto ‘ Go BIG or go home ‘

Adios for now,
Andrew

PS: Here is the answer to a math question...keep in mind that the answer does not nessesarily reflect my views.