“Everything is strange when you’re a stranger...”

  My Social Studies prof quoted this song lyric in class on Friday, and told us that it would be very much the feeling we’d have walking into a brand-new school….and I have to agree.  Everything was strange to me, and I was the stranger! However, after the initial confusion faded, I felt pretty comfortable navigating the halls of Wellington.

  I arrived bright and early at 8:00am to avoid any parking issues, but there is plenty of road parking around the school so it wasn’t an issue.  The VP met with me around 8:15, gave me a master timetable list, a map, and a copy the staff handbook (to read up on all those policies).  She told me that I could basically wander around/in and out of classes as desired, so I did just that! I first took a walk around the school, that holds 60 staff and 1,000 students.  Wellington is fairly easy to navigate, and it helps that the school wings are based around a circle- we’re all well aware of that set-upJ 

  The first class I dropped in on was a SS 11 class, which was in the middle of a current events debate when I arrived.  I was impressed at the level of maturity and participation in the class- especially after the teacher told me that the class was 30 students, 6 of which were designated but had no EA’s. He did a fantastic job of keeping the students on task, and used a variety of activities over the class period.  He also asked me if I wanted to teach at all next week- to which I said I’d get back to him. I’m not sure I’m feeling comfortable (and knowledgeable) enough at this point to take the plunge, but we’ll see how I’m feeling by Monday!

  The next class was an English 10H, and the classroom reminded me of UVic- tiered seating with a podium at the front. The teacher was totally sarcastic and comfortable with the students, I loved it! He also tried to make the material (we were looking at Romeo and Juliet) relatable to the students- for example, he argued that Romeo was emo. It was pretty entertaining watching the students generate ideas with him!

  Third class was an English 8, but I only watched part of the class since I hadn’t gotten a chance to check out the library/other areas- and the teacher told me that it was going to be a very slooow day because everyone was still in turkey comas.  So I explored the bookroom, checked out the counseling office, the gym, multipurpose room, etc.  Read the staff handbook to gain knowledge on their policies- for example, Wellington doesn’t ban cell phones, but I barely saw any during classes, so I suppose students have more self-control than I assumed.

  Last class of the day was English 11, and it was a really good demo of some of the teaching strategies we’ve been talking about for the last month! They did AB partner work, class discussions, and exit slips. The teacher, much like the English 10 teacher, was very relaxed with the students, which made it a really good learning environment.

  So all in all, it was a good day. I’m hoping to bust out of the SS/English mold tomorrow and view some other classes and activities if I can- I want to see as many teaching styles as possible. The good or the bad...it all helps us to design our own distinct teaching style!