Here Goes a New Year

As you will see from reading this, I made it back to Macau just in time for the new school year. I had exactly one day of in-school planning before the kiddos arrived, allowing me to hastily churn out some first-week plans in coordination with all those pesky standards I've got to meet. With a new year comes a new class, and I've got quite the bunch. I'm glad I have this bad boy on hand for basically everything.  This might give you an idea of what we've got:

- A student who cannot keep himself from screaming answers the moment he even thinks he knows what question I'm asking
- A student who drinks water at a record rate and needs to go back to the fountain every.single.class
- A class-B, fully certified space cadet who lives on a planet of their own, far from the world of our classroom
- A student who wrote his name 5 times on their name tag, so I now say their name 5 times every time I want his attention
- A student who's father is the head chef at the best Indian restaurant in all of Macau (And yes, I can get my hands on the goods without unscrupulous requests)

I love all of them. We've got a way to go but they're going to be a real good bunch one we get our poop in a group (my version of getting one's shit together). So far this week has been, very very hectic. VERY hectic. You might have well put squirrels in the classroom it was so hectic. They're all in the neighbourhood of 8 years old, and are a rowdy bunch that can't line up if they were.... um.... I don't have a slang saying for that one...  I've really got to help them group up that poop because Grade 4 is a proper make-or-break year. The first 'serious' grade as far as the way my school does things, it's the first year of proper exams and tests, full grades and the need to study & be properly organized. The vast majority of them still come into grade 4 with solid literacy and math skills, but we've got some work to do if we want to be ready for the real world. 

I've now got myself fully room-mated. This gem of a human being is taking a picture of her first egg tart and not first bubble tea, shortly after arriving in Macau. This will be my first time living with a roommate that isn't a group of European students in Kingston. She even does all the dishes and cleans up the house pretty regularly. I repaid her with a grilled cheese once but I think I will have to pull up my socks and not be a filthy child to the best of my ability. 

One last thing. A new school year has brought in a cool group of new staff. It's both refreshing and rememberful, remindful, attention-pointing-to the fact that this overseas teaching thing can be fleeting for some. New schools, new jobs, & new countries can snatch away your friends and leave you with a new pack of people you don't know, all the while a new year begins and you've not really got a proper idea of what you should even be doing. Either way, it's likely you'll find some quality pals somewhere in the mix, but that's life no matter where you are, isn't it?