Vacation Winding Down

Yes, those sad words for a teacher, vacation is almost over. Since my school runs on the South American schedule - April to January, teachers come back March 22 to start getting ready. That's Monday! Actually, today is really my last day of vacation, because I told my wife I'd come into her class and give a presentation (her school works on the North American calendar, August to May).

Of course, it really isn't bad. It has been long enough that i'm missing the kids and getting eager for the new year to start. I am especially excited about my seniors this year. there are a bunch of good, dedicated students in this group and I expect good things from them. As a comparison, with last year's seniors I only had four out of 32 students take their IB exams in Business, and it was a struggle to help them get ready, while the senior projects from all of them were of poorer quality than I expect.

Frustrating, but then that senior class had the lowest overall academic scores in the 80-year history of our school. Just one of those things where we had a large concentration of under performing students in one year. There were a lot of smart kids in that class, they just would rather party than do their work. I never could find a way to really connect with that group, few teachers in our school did, and that is what was so frustrating.

This year, however, I'll have about 42-44 students, with around 25 going for their IB exams. A large group of these kids are extremely dedicated and competitive academically. A lot of them think it is a failure if they score a 95 on an assignment. I can't wait to see what they will be doing on their projects.

Back to School!

Back in the Saddle - With the Wife!

Even though my school is still out on vacation (it goes by the South American schedule with vacation in February and March)my wife's school follows the North American schedule and it is still going strong. At her school, Intermerican Academy of Guayaquil, has a program she runs where students can earn a Distinguished Honors Diploma by meeting several requirements, including completion of a research project. Tomorrow, I will be on a judging panel for the top seniors to present the results of their projects.

Once again, me in front of students!