energy buzz

One huge thing I've noticed in the change from high school to middle school age students is the energy level difference. High school students still have that teenage energy buzz going, but the younger students seem to have an excess. Tuesdays are always kind of a nice day because it gives the students an opportunity to get out of the normal classroom setting and into really hands-on activities with their Tech lessons. I have noticed, however, that once the energy levels get up during the time spent on the bus between Tech and at Tech, they don't really come down all too easily once the students are back at Swanson and having to settle back in. I understand exactly what the students are experiencing, having gone through it plenty of times myself back in my day. I have a feeling these transition days will be one of my tougher spots over the next few weeks of total control.

I actually just introduced a bit of an art unit that the students will be working with over the next couple of weeks. They will be working with a bit of an investigation of the various art movements and creating trivial pursuit type games with their new found artistic knowledge. I explained the different aspects they need to look into (style, subject, genre/movement, mediums, instruments, etc) with a twist on tying it into music and the various genres. I have to admit that I absolutely cracked up when some of the students were baffled by some of the older examples of music I played. They were spot on with identifying all sorts of style characteristics and classifying the genres, but were at a loss of who some of the artists were. It's amazing how, over the past couple of weeks here, I've really started to feel older than I thought I was.

So far, not too bad, but tomorrow's another day, so we'll have to see just how much the students were able to hold onto from today. This week seems a bit slow so far for everyone, but I'm pretty sure things will definitely start to pick up really rapidly over the next couple of days and weeks. Looking ahead for planning during our team meeting today, I started to realize just how many days over the next couple of weeks are actually spent working on various other tasks. Working with the years seven and eight, it seems like there's almost more on the plate in regards to miscellaneous duties than actual class time. With all this in mind, it's definitely going to be interesting trying to tie everything together cohesively over the last half of the term. I'm especially, excited for the beach education day on November 30th. It should be a handful with having to take the entire Totara team to Bethels Beach - but I'm really interested to see just what's in store with this program. It's intended to teach the students all they ought to know about how to be safe at the beach. I guess I'm most interested to see how receptive the students are to it more than anything else.

I think I might have to call it quits for tonight though. After hitting the pool with Rachel for a little exercise tonight and two days into my full control, I'm sapped for energy. So this is me signing out for the evening.