Day One - For the 3rd time...

Oh my goodness... What a difference a year makes. I must say that I've had far less stress this year than any other of my pre-planning years in teaching. I don't know if 5 is the magic number or 3 is the magic number in one location, but my stress level is WAY down this year compared to last. I only have around 85 academic students each day in 6 classes (5 subjects), compared to over 100 students in 6 classes (7 subjects) last year.

Today was the first day of school and it is always hard in the international school system to show up and realize that a few of your favorite students aren't going to be back this year. I have around 4 who moved during the summer and thus aren't returning, and that's been a bit tough on all of us. The student dynamic in my classes will change some, but 5 of my classes mainly consist of the same group of students I had last year, just in a higher level math.

Our new teachers also seem GREAT, and everyone seemed to have a good day. I feel compared to 2 years ago when we began with VERY little, I have my act all together. Now comes the challenge of not being complacent or going on auto-pilot. My goal is to challenge my students with deeper problem solving and applications this year. I'm also teaching a very small Calculus class of highly intelligent students. It's a math teacher's dream come true.

I promised many that I'd try to blog more consistently this year, and I really mean it. I want to be in touch. With that promise... I'll talk to ya'll soon!