Thoughts from my first few weeks of teaching

The last time I felt this bombarded by new experiences, I was an 18 year old freshman at IUP.  That year was perhaps the best of my life.  This year is starting out with much the same appeal, except that I have more responsibilities and more money.  Oddly enough, I'm drinking more, too.

I am surrounded by good people.  They are supportive, intelligent, friendly, and amazingly good looking.  I'm also surrounded by a wide array of accents.  Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, London, Yorkshire, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, German, Australian, Spanish, Russian, Italian, and probably a few I haven't identified.  I'm still in the stage of enjoying just listening to everyone talk.

I have a symbiotic relationship with a fellow traveler, Nadia.  She's an Australian that's climbed Kilimanjaro before and completed three triathlons this month.  If I'm ever picked for Survivor, she's going to be my coach.  I've been teaching longer, but she's been in the UK longer.  I feed her ideas for handling mountains of grading, and she helps me look like I'm learning local customs faster than normal.  It's a win-win.

I have my lunch buddies and drinking buddies already.  Nick the Actor, Kathi the German, Theo the Librarian, and Alison the Biologist.  We are the start of a corny joke, but we haven't figured out the punchline yet.  We all just went looking for fellow beer drinkers, and it turns out that we're actually quite fine company.

Even though I've changed countries, kids are kids, and physics is physics.  I can always fall back on that.

I've already been observed twice in class, and luckily, both of those lessons were interesting ones.

Some of my kids must already like me, because I've had three random compliments from colleagues.  Theo the Librarian saw students talking excitedly about The Long Walk, a Stephen King book I'd mentioned in class while teaching about measuring walking speed.  Nadia the Adventurer took her tutees (each teacher has a group of students to care for) to the river and came back to tell me that a few were talking excitedly about my "What's in the box?" activity.  A father, who shall remain nameless until I remember it, said his daughter Zoe thinks I'm "cool."  I've still got it.

I help take care of boarding students in Hereward House.  One night a week, I help the House Master take roll, make announcements, enforce homework (called "prep") time, and put the young ones to bed.  Along the way, I chat with the kids.  Two of them actually lived in Southern Maryland, believe it or not.  Their parents are in the RAF and were stationed at PAX Naval Air Base for a couple years.  Small freaking world.

I coach rugby with a fellow science teacher named Gary.  He's never played the sport, and I've never even seen it.  Oddly enough, our team has not won yet.

Kids made fun of the NFL by saying pads are for wimps.  I said the true test of manliness is falling to the ground and grabbing your knee.  They laughed and conceded that point.

I have a physics technician that organizes, sets up, and tears down all the lab equipment.  I simply put in requests at the beginning of the week, and he sorts everything out, even staying in the room to make sure everything works well.  I don't need any time to consider my judgement here.  This is a far better way of working in a physics department.  I think I give him an odd smile because I thank him so much.

The food is actually quite good, and my lunch buddies are intelligent enough to choose the locale based on the quality of the cakes.  I have finally learned what Yorkshire pudding is, and it is a rare meal that is not offered with beans.  But the beans are in a tomato-y sauce rather than a barbecue-y sauce.  I'm not used to the taste.  It makes me think, "When have I ever been eating ketchup and wishing that beans were in it?"

There are several Australian "gap year" students that take a year off between high school and college to work in the UK.  They mostly work with the PE department, coaching sports, lifeguarding, and supervising activities.  Lorenna the Gappie had to race off to London to cast her vote at the Australian Embassy, as voting is required by law.  She would have been fined otherwise.  That's how you enforce democracy, folks.  In Australia, the school year is the calendar year.  That would avoid so much confusion.

Every pub serves mostly cask ales, and most pubs are actually owned by a brewer.  If you see "Greene King" on the front of the pub, only that brewers ales are sold there.  There's a local brew pub with a huge selection of cask ales and ciders.  It's a converted antique store, so there's just a register and no room for taps.  You place your order, the barkeep runs out back to where the casks are stored, and returns with your beer.  And it's gooooooood!

I signed up for the NFL streaming package (you can do that in the UK!) only to see the Steelers play the worst football since the mud bowl.  However, Theo the Librarian, Kathi the German, and Nadia the Adventurer all stopped by to watch a little of the game and wave the terrible towel.  I played them the Pennsylvania Polka, and they thought it was hilarious.

Two of my best pairs of shoes literally fell apart after making the long trip across the Atlantic.  My new shoes are so shiny, it looks a bit like I'd never dressed up before moving to the UK.

Amazon.co.uk is amazing.  There are very few items that won't ship for free, and mostly they come within 2 days.  These are the things that are possible when the country is about the size of New Jersey.

Everything I say and do is liable to be treated as representative of all Americans.  It's an awesome responsibility.

In all documents, school personnel are referred to by initials.  My initials, JLS, are also apparently the name of a boy band.

The old college tactic of propping my door open and playing music while I work still attracts company as people wander down the hall.

People like overemphasizing their r's when they're winding me up over my accent.  The corny joke crew likes saying "Mesta Sniiiiida" in their best Southern drawl.  It's endearing.  When I try doing a British accent, my voice seems to wander from country to country randomly.

My corny joke crew has bonded over movie references.  Theo the Librarian makes Three Amigos jokes with me.  Nick the Actor does a spot-on Galdalf.  Kathi the German has a thing for Vin Diesel and Disney films.  These folks really do make me smile.

Alison the Bio teacher and Ned the Head of Physics both competed on the UK national rowing team.  Ned the Head was ranked highly in the world at one time.  I am around very interesting people.

Ned the Head takes good care of me.  He's good at telling me what I need to do, what I can do when I have time, and what I can and should say "no" to if anyone asks.  He's a fantastic physics teacher from whom I expect to learn quite a bit.

I have a physics department.  I love having a physics department.  There's a third teacher, David, from whom I have been stealing every resource I can get.  Not many of the sheets and quizzes I've made over the years are applicable here so far, and my job would be far more difficult if I didn't have two veterans from whom to borrow materials.

Planning and grading takes much longer right now than it has in years.  It really does feel like my first year teaching all over again, in some ways.  On the other hand, I know what I'm good at, I am confident enough to tell people what I cannot be expected to do yet, and I am humble enough to ask for help on the many occasions when I need it.  It's stressful, but I know I'll get through it this time, and that makes all the difference.

I really do miss my NHS kids.  There was no way to avoid that.  I'm getting to know a whole new group of kids that I will love and help every bit as much, but I can't help but miss people like Max, Danny, Amanda, Helen, Maddie & Monica (you go together as a set), Kayla, Tassia, Mary & Jana (you two are paired in my mind) , all my costume girls, Erin, Cierra, Jeffrey, Grace & Becca, and so many more.  It will nag me all year.  I was so lucky to know them, and it's harder now to let them know how proud I am of them.  A little mention in a blog post is at least something to let them know I think of them.

My kids over here all call me "Sir," wear uniforms, wait at the door until I let them in, don't move at the bell until I dismiss them, and thank me for the lesson at the end of class.  They are all highly amused when I say "Class dismissed!" Apparently, it's an American cliche.  They also ask incredibly interesting questions.  The lessons over here are geared more toward discussion-style, and that plays right to my strengths.  Then again, it's easy to get behind, because I cannot resist random tangents.

Wednesdays are my favorite days now.  I teach only two lessons and I have no evening duties.  My corny joke crew likes to go to the pub on Wednesdays, and I've gotten them to say "Hump Day!" like the camel in the Geico commercial.  If I have to work on Saturdays, at least I get one relatively easy day in the middle of the week.

Oh, and Stephen Hawking's coming to Ely tomorrow.  Go ahead and be jealous.