Holiday Update (which I'm too lazy to spell check)
I did finally post the entry I wrote about Pittsburgh (part 3) if you're interested. I wrote it on the 14th, so you'll have to go to the archives to read it.
Lots is going on. I am busy over the two-week break with lots of stuff. Of course there are many family and friend obligations. We had Christmas with Andrew's extended family (aunt, uncle, cousins from his mom's side with whom we get together once or twice a year), which is always interesting and a potential entry in and of itself. We also went to my mother's annual Christmas party, which I'm pretty sure is the highlight of her year as she is really into Christmas and entertaining. It was nice, although my family really is a bunch of winos. Rich drunks, man. Rich drunks. Then yesterday we went on our annual trip to Orlando for our fancy-schmancy Geek Squad dinner. It will definitely be a separate entry. I had to do a bunch of stuff to get ready for that this week - hair, pedicure, manicure, clothes shopping, etc. And we had to finish the Christmas shopping we didn't do online this week.
Work will also be a part of my break, as it seems it always is. Just before the break I found out I'm going to be hosting an intern. This means that from the end of January through April a new teacher will be working with me to learn the craft. Most of her time will be spent planning, teaching and grading for my three classes. We will start out co-teaching, then I will move into the background and offer her support and ideas. I will basically use the approach my cooperating teacher did, which is to allow her freedom and space to do her own thing and just visit the classroom regularly and talk to her daily about how things are going. I found my internship hugely rewarding. I contacted her as soon as I found out she'd be working with me and I got a copy of her internship application and transcipts, so I already know a lot about her. Over the break we're also going to meet so we can get to know each other and she can offer me her input on my course materials. She looks like an excellent candidate and I think we're going to have a great internship.
In addition to contacting my intern and preparing my start-of-term information for my classes, I am going to be writing lots of essays. I was nominated for a Disney teaching award which could get me $10,000 if I win it. I got two letters of recommendation (one from a student and one from a senior administrator - in this case our Assistant Principal for Curriculum, who is in charge of our school's academics and scheduled her own son in my class). I have to write three essays about my teaching philosophy and experiences and submit it by the beginng of the year. I also have to spend time over the break working on my National Board essays, which I am waaaay behind on and a little worried about. Hopefully having an intern will help mitigate some of that, as it should afford me somwhat more personal time at home.
On January 2 we return to school, and on the 3rd the students return. I wish we had a couple of days to prepare instead of one, but what are you gonna do?
This week I got a very interesting email. One of my former superiors at the Bodleian emailed me just to basically say hello and let me know that, since I left, the staff has gone through quite a few changes. Apparently the porter staff is now more than 1/3 women and much more friendly than when I worked there. My former boss and his office manager are still there. That warmed my heart. I always liked them and Mike, the man who emailed me, and I like to hope that I helped make the library a bit more friendly.