Into Week Two

Week two at Blackfriars Priory School is now in full swing!  I spent my Monday moving around to a few different year 8 and year 10 classes, from math to science to religion.  The year 8 math class was working on some practice math problems, so I meandered around a bit and talked with some of the boys.  At one point the visiting student teacher was talking with me as well (she happens to be a young lady from a local “uni”, or university) – we were laughing about something, and then when she walked away two of the boys looked at me and said “Way to go, TJ!” and then giggled when I told them to get back to work.  There was honestly nothing going on, but boys will be boys I suppose.

Later that afternoon I met with the deputy principal and the head of Religious Ed.  We threw around some ideas of what I could do at the school for my remaining time here, and I think they’re working on a schedule for me.  We figured I could do some work at different age levels, to get some experience across the whole spectrum of the school.  I really liked that idea – I’ll do some work in a year 10 Religion class, a year 12 philosophy class, and then some work in years 2 and 5.  Tomorrow or Thursday I should know more about what I’ll be doing!

Today was my first day taking the train into school by myself.  It turned out fine, but it is a pretty long ride – I think that’s part of the reason the principal is looking for somewhere closer for me to stay.  It would definitely be nice to be closer to the school rather than make an hour long commute every day.  The first two period of the day I spent in philosophy classes – one for year 12 and one for year 11.  It was definitely a lot different than what I’ve been used to doing lately!  So many civ flashbacks.  It was pretty interesting, though, to see how Aquinas can be taught at the high school level, and how to approach philosophy with a younger class than I’ve been used to at PC.  After class, I talked with the teacher for a bit.  We discussed changes in the education system, how to teach philosophy to teenagers, and some of the best ways to manage a classroom – it was really cool talking with him, but the man sure can talk!  It was almost impossible to get a word in edgewise.

After all that, it was a bit of a relief to move on into a year 4 class!  Their biggest concern was how to decorate their desk placemats and what sorts of Pokemon games I’ve played.  My buddy Christian from learning enrichment was in the room, and he was really excited when I walked in, which is always nice to have.  And then I had another boy sneaking up behind me and trying to inconspicuously prod me in the back as I was talking to the teacher.  They’re a handful, but definitely a fun group!

After school, I made what is sure to be first of many trips to an Australia souvenir shop, and now I’ve got to get writing some postcards.  And then hopefully tomorrow I’ll found out some more about what exactly I’m doing at Blackfriars!