Halfway

Today is the ultimate hump day at Institute. Not only is it Wednesday, it is the Wednesday of our middle week. And despite the fact that we are only in our second week (out of four) of teaching, today was nearly the middle day of teaching. I've had 7 days in the classroom, and I'll have nine more this summer, four next week and three the week after that.

There's been lots going on but not a lot of time to write about it, so I'm not sure where to summarize. Some days of teaching have been good, some have been bad--and I'm told that's the way it will always be. I'm not convinced any of my students are understanding a word I'm saying, but most of them do fine on the work I give them, so I guess something is getting through. My class must be a bit boring, though.

The only real problem I'm having right now are a couple students who just don't do anything in class. One girl in my fifth period class today just sat there, not filling out the note-taking template I gave her and not doing any of the practice problems we were working on. She was also 5 minutes late for class, so I had to pull her aside after school and talk to her a little bit. I'm not sure how to break through to her, or why she's so disengaged, but I'm going to try to find out.

So not much insightful for me to say today. Relative to most people here in Houston, my experience has been relatively stress free, just tiring. Yesterday and today have been the first time's I've felt very wiped out. But hopefully once I'm over this hump and on the home stretch, the energy will pick up. At least the days go quickly when they are so busy.