Hey, how good is this middle school English teaching gig?! Now that all the exams are graded, the reports are done and dusted, the recommendations slung away and the farewell assemblies, dinners and get-togethers are (almost) over, we've got a couple of moments to breathe before we wing it away to Paris for two weeks. It doesn't get much better than that!
I'm slightly euphoric (can you tell?!), as Cass and I have had a quite horrific two weeks which has finally ended. She is still putting the finishing touches on a couple of grades and recommendations, but as I wait, I've decided to tap out a short entry. I felt neglectful not doing it properly the last couple of weeks!
We've endured a perfect paper storm: at this time of the year a swag of kids seek recommendations from their core teachers for possible entry to boarding schools in the States for next year. We've copped a lot of them and they need to be done in triplicate, get approved and edited, then sent away. Along with this we've had final narrative and grade reports after issuing all the kids with a final grade update. The narrative reports had to include references to the "affective domain" to keep in line with new guidelines and this made them a little trickier than usual to complete. We were just done with writing, revising and editing these when, without chance to draw breath, exams were upon us!
The 210 strong cohort of eighth graders filled the upper gym on Monday morning and we've been furiously grading their output ever since. Just to complicate matters further, they needed us to proctor and invigilate in other exam rooms during the following days, interrupting our marking flow. We have to reset and re-calibrate every time we get back from such a duty and strict protocols mean that we can't let a pencil feather a paper while we're on duty!
The trouble with giving highly motivated, talented and dedicated 14 year old academics an hour to write an essay is that they write a lot! To say we have been goggle eyed is an understatement especially considering the varying quality of handwriting samples. Some delightful charmers write in an impossibly pretty, highly legible font that grader's dreams are made of, while other less popular members of the gang dance hieroglyphics across the page, scratch meaningless graphite etchings or write in such impossibly minuscule letters that it is impossible to decipher with the naked eye. It's all part of the frustration and joys that we experience each day!
Coupled with grading fever has been an emotional roller-coaster of sorts with our great mate Shaun leaving tomorrow. We'll miss him professionally as our divisional principal, but more importantly personally. Wal and I were delighted that Shaun carved out some time from his busy going-away schedule to join us for a beer on Friday night. We had a great time: it was just like the good old days with plenty of laughs and lots of reminiscing. It's been good to be feverishly busy actually: we haven't been able to dwell on the inevitable.
We'll be ensconced on the Left bank in a few short days and have already mapped out a few must "re-visits". I'm keen to explore the new area as well as get back to some old stomping grounds to drink in some artistic perfume at de l' Orangerie, d'Orsay, Marmottan, Picasso, Pompidou and many more. We've got some premium seats to La Traviata at Opera Bastille as well...should be quite amazing: it's the hottest ticket in town!
Apart from bathing in fine arts we'll be consuming more than our share of wine and food from as wide a variety or restaurants and cafes that we can find! Happy Christmas and New Year to any readers....I'll have another short break while we're in gay Paris and be back with tales of our adventures after that!
Photos: Jacks design studio (we bought two more stunning Moller 71 Danish 1950s dining chairs to complete our set), kids in the gym, proctoring a Mandarin exam, and the spoils of a Grade 8 English teacher: top quality champagne and chocolate!