Up for Air

Ok, so I started this post under the gun at the library, but then I ran out of time. Again. So we went over to the Carphone Warehouse and throttled the counter guy until he gave us mobile broadband to take home. Or something like that. (Actually he was very nice.) Anyway, now I can complete this post at my leisure, from the comfizzy of my own hizzy. This post will mostly be about my first week at school. Tales of the Dragon's Ball and Clarke's in Bath will follow shortly.

So I've already got my first week of teaching behind me and, although I've only got a partial timetable so far, I'm feeling a little breathless. The school's been great - there's a lot to learn, but the staff are all really friendly and there's a really positive vibe in the staff room. The students are less excited than we are to be back at school, but once the extra-curricular stuff starts rolling in earnest, I'm sure they'll come around. :)
As for my school, it's a pretty typical urban high school with 1200 kids packed into a building meant for 800. In a lot of ways it's like schools back home, except that there are interactive white boards in almost every room and all the kids walk around in jackets and ties. The kids get the cutest gleam of jealousy in their eyes when I tell them that most schoolchildren in Canada wear pretty much whatever they want to school.
My actual job is still being hashed out - my timetable is beyond light at the moment - so I've had lots of time to get used to they school, the rules, etc. So far I've got three groups of Year 7 kids (roughly equivalent to grade 7 in Quebec) and I'm sharing a Year 9 'form,' which is basically homeroom - we take attendance, check uniforms and equipment, and read announcements. With a few exceptions, the kids are generally very sweet and sometimes almost nauseatingly cute.
My timetable should be filling up soon enough, but right now it's crazy - a full-time load is 26 classes per week, but I only have three. Over the next week or two, teachers will be identifying students in their classes who could use some extra help with English and they'll be sent over to me. Thankfully I'm not being stiffed on my paychecks, or at least it doesn't look like I am - the first one lands in my bank account on Friday. Fingers crossed!! In the meantime, I'm spending my time patrolling the hallways, getting to know the kids, and covering/supporting classes as needed.
Everything is rolling along nicely for now. Things will obviously change quite a bit once my timetable (we don't really do 'schedules' so much here) fills up, and I may be singing rather a different tune in a couple of weeks, but for now I get up in the morning with a spring in my step, and I come home with a smile on my face.