Comments | aibhinn: *Dusts off the journal*

aibhinn

Dusts off the journal

Aug 17, 2011 15:57

Uh. Hi? I've been sort of--well, VERY, if I'm honest--absent from LJ for some time, but I really need to get back here. Really. Not least because this is going to be a crazy year, and I'm going to need SOMETHING to keep me sane.

( Someone, somewhere is probably interested in this. )

work

Comments 20

kaffy_r August 18 2011, 01:07:47 UTC

Good luck on your new assignment; you're a braver man than I am, Gunga Din. How big is your school; is this a manageable sort of thing?

I definitely understand your wariness about teaching English. When one is extremely good at something, it's hard to conceive of the difficulties others can have with it. I had a math teacher in 8th or 9th grade who was obviously in love with his subject, but people like me who truly didn't. get. it. frustrated him to the point of bullying us. He was young, and I think he got better over the years, but it made math class that year a misery for me.

And it's good to see you back around these parts!

aibhinn August 18 2011, 01:15:06 UTC

We've got seven people in the math department right now, and we're trying to hire an eighth to take the place of the gal who left. Unfortunately, I was really the only one who could take Dep't Head this year. Of the six other folks, two are brand-new to the building this year, three are coaches anywhere from two to three quarters of the year, and the last has been diagnosed with breast cancer and is currently undergoing chemotherapy and radiation. It's really Just Me. But it's not *so* bad; all of them are really willing to step up and help as much as they can.

Good to be seen back around these parts! I'd forgotten how much I missed LJ. :)

canaana August 18 2011, 01:17:28 UTC

*hugs* Glad you dodged at least one bullet. :-)

aibhinn August 18 2011, 20:43:27 UTC

Dodged the worst one. :D The .357 Magnum missed me, but I got winged with the .22.

tradarcher August 18 2011, 02:10:35 UTC

Good Luck with the new job.

aibhinn August 18 2011, 20:43:41 UTC

Thanks! :)

wendymr August 18 2011, 02:40:15 UTC

Welcome back! And, yes, I know exactly what you mean about not being able to see where others struggle when something comes naturally to you. And I've been that struggling pupil who just doesn't get it (in maths), so I know what that's like too. Glad you don't have to teach English after all!

Good luck on being head of Maths, all the same. It may sound prestigious, but I know it'll be a lot more work. You can do it, though!

aibhinn August 18 2011, 20:44:24 UTC

Thanks! And I've got a great math team to help me out, too. Really, the math dep't at my school is awesome. ♥

garpu August 18 2011, 05:08:49 UTC

Yikes...things going better this year? Is that a normal courseload?

aibhinn August 18 2011, 20:45:40 UTC

Yeah, that's a normal courseload--in the six periods a day, we teach five and have one for planning/grading/etc. Anything over and above that, like head of dep't, includes an extra stipend. (Which doesn't hurt my feelings in the LEAST.)