Addendum - Substituting was as relaxing as I thought it would be - none of that stress of built-up relationships with students, nor expectations. It's nice seeing how the other half lives, so to speak. I found the major difference between giving Biology and English today to be that there must be constant student interaction in English, and that is a lot easier to maintain. It seems you can always change the material slightly in order to make for an interesting question, whereas in Biology you're restricted by what's perceived as THE explanation and interpretation of things. As a Bio teacher, you're leading students on a quest for a scientific truth - whereas in English, you're infusing them with a new way to think about language. I think the advantage is that many are already students of language and understand immediately what we assume is the most time-consuming. But in Biology, students don't know how to approach science. It's an interesting debate as to which is harder and why. We'll see after tomorrow where I stand.
Peace
John
