Tough Day, Better Day

I have not written since Friday because the beginning days of school were somewhat overwhelming. Today, Wednesday, our sixth day of students things seemed a little more calm and I had a good day in the classroom – as opposed to yesterday when I did not seem to connect with the students. I can now read my students a little better and know more of what they are thinking/feeling inside during the lesson. I really like all my students, but seem to connect more easily with some of them than with others – which I guess would be normal.

I will go over my schedule briefly so you can get an idea of a typical day. Yesterday, Tuesday, from 8:30 to 8:45 I had the morning front door duty of greeting students and letting them in the locked doors. Then while I was standing at the door the 7th and 8th grade students came to me for PE as the real PE teacher is not here and may not be here for some time as he is still raising support in the USA. I did not know exactly where we could play so I ran upstairs and asked the Principal if we could use the school’s playground. I was told no – the options are the small gym or take them to a park. So I got an indoor ball and an outdoor ball and ran back down stairs to ask the students where the small gym was. They showed me and it seemed quite small so I said we were going to the park. So again we ambulated the six blocks or so to the park. On the way I noticed two students whom I did not know, so I struck up a conversation with them – a brother and sister who had just arrived from the USA. They have been in the CR for twelve years, so the older one was fluent in Czech.

We did our different types of dodge ball games and had a decent time and no one got hurt – so I considered the class a success. On the way back I had two of the girls translate the signs on the shops we passed by so I could know what the shops were selling or dong. It was a good way to pass the time on the walk and learn something too.

Next I spent time in my room working on my lesson for Algebra 2. Since I have the smallest classes I set up classroom basically for my little classes right across the hall from Liz in what is the Discovery Center – the place for those needing special help – so I fit right in. The principal needed a name for this new classroom so it is called Hartman Hall! It is nice to work in a place with some latitude on the Principal’s part. About noon, it was time for me to supervise the 9th – 12th grade PE classes. I did this with Vera – the most delightful Czech and German teacher. I think I have mentioned her before, but she is an organizing force at CISP and wants us all to do things in a proper manner. I think the school has been run on a fairly loose basis before and it worked well because it was so small. Now we have over ninety students and we need more structure. We of course played soccer at PE. The upper school kids seem to get along famously playing together as a group even though there are a variety of skill levels on the soccer pitch – a blacktop playground.

So lunch break comes at 12:40 and I grab my cheese sandwich, jellied bread, maybe some chocolate cookies and Coke Zero and some of the kids eat hurriedly so that another multilevel – 7th to 12th soccer game can begin. Some of the kids sit and talk, some lie on the ground and recover from PE, some wander and talk. But a serious soccer game breaks out too. After lunch it is time for a little more prep for Alg 2 and then my class comes in for the session. I am supposed to have five in the class, but so far only three have shown up. One girl is still in the USA and one girl seems somewhat mysteriously missing from class again. I reported her to the Principal today. She may have a valid excuse, but I have not heard it.

My class goes only so-so, somewhat disappointing to me. I like the kids in it, but the personalities are just at the two extreme ends of bubbly and subdued so I did not know what I was getting across. We leave the school about 4:30 and walk about ten minutes to the flat of an American family who is leaving the country and I pick up a TV. Now you must realize that most of our travel is on foot. I am now at the bottom of a hill about 20 minutes from home and I am the proud owner of a TV. Fortunately it is rather small – a 20” LCD model. We buy a few small items also. Now the trek home begins. Did I tell you that this is a really steep hill that we went down to get to the flat. So we trudge back up. On the way we call Leah and tell her we are ready to meet Rachel.

Rachel is the student teacher who needs a place to live. We have agreed that she should live with us until Bill and Linda arrive on their visit to Prague. Ra is from PEI and a chocolate soul mate of mine. She and Liz just went on a chocolate hunt – though most shops are closed by now. They found a potraviny open and got returned with one of those nice big 100 g bars, which was only half eaten when they returned.

Phyllis peeled off at Vinohradska street to meet Ra and I went on home. I hooked the LCD TV up and was amazed that the original TV in the flat was so bad. It distorted, picutalized, and did everything possible nasty to make TV viewing a non-spectator sport. The new TV is not HD, but it is so much better than the old one we just shake our heads and wonder how we watched anything.
I then spent until about 10:00 PM prepping for today – when I have my three classes, but no PE classes. I did do Lunch and got the soccer ball out only to find that we could not use the blacktop because the Czech School whose building we use was out on it. Some kids asked for a basketball. I did not even know there was a hoop, but they showed me the hoop which was hidden in a corner of the courtyard. Fortunately Matt, another new teacher, was out with me and he went to replace the soccer ball with a basketball.

My three classes, Calculus, Pre-Calc and Physics all went well today. I was just organized enough to make things work – plus I credit my mature and understanding students for making the day go well. I already have many favorite students – essentially all whom I teach and several with whom I have become acquainted in PE classes.

So today I came home fairly early and was relaxing. Liz and Ra came home a little later as they stayed for an elementary staff meeting. Suddenly there is a pop and our electricity goes off. I am thoroughly puzzled as the lights are on in the rest of our building and there are no breakers blown. I call Richard, our landlord, who is in London. He says he can’t really help if no breakers are blown, so he calls a Czech friend of his, Roska or something like that. Out of deseration, I call Ondrejz, the chairman of the building committee for the apartment building. He tells me to look in the hall just opposite the elevator and I should find the main switch for our flat. I locate it, flip it, and the lights are on. HooRay! That really went well. Ondrejz was able to answer the phone and tell me what to do. Is God good or what? However the pop happens again about thirty minutes later. I reset the breakers and decide that the only thing that has changed and is the likely culprit is the TV. So I move the broadband modem, the wireless router, the chargers for our cell phones and camera off the circuit that runs the TV and digital cable box. In moving this stuff, I think I know what went wrong. It involved using a grounded USA extension cord with an adapter, but I think the ground on the USA cord was touching a hot part of the Czech extension cord it was plugged into. I had been wanting to move though electronic devices nearer the desk with computers on it so I could easily run a cable from the wireless router to a laptop if the wireless portion had a problem. I think we are better off now.

So I have had a very relaxing evening compared to yesterday. Liz and Ra fixed a curry dinner that was of course excellent. The TV is crystal clear. The electricity is on. We have chocolate. Life is good. Liz and I took a walk and found a couple of shops we had passed by but then lost track of where they were. One is the Russian Deli and the other was a pizza restaurant that we tried to find last Friday and were unsuccessful doing so. Tomorrow, the hole that a workman working in the adjacent apartment punched though into the guest bedroom will be fixed. Vera is going to take us on a tour of our neighborhood and tell about the various shops and we will go to a grocery and learn more about the contents of various packages and cans. All is well.

Sent without proofreading …