No chalk!
First class, Monday morning, and the report back from the student sent to go get chalk is that there's none. So I send the chefe of the turma back to the room to sit and wait until they give him chalk, saying that I refuse to teach until I've got chalk. Which is really 50% pragmatism as most of my lesson depends on chalk for the students' understanding and 50% protest because I could easily make something up that doesn't require chalk. So we sat there for about half an hour while I showed them how to measure their pulse and then we sat and did homework. But a few minutes in, a student asked to go home to get chalk from his house, another found a tiny piece, and word came down tht there would soon be chalk. So I have 15 minutes of a 45-minute lesson and saved an extra piece of chalk I got from the student to give my next lesson, but was out again for the third. So I pulled the protest again and got another piece. Before my last class, I scored another piece, but I wouldn't be surprised if the night classes didn't happen and classes tomorrow are worse.
I never really experienced it before, but if you deny yourself passion, it's hard to really get it back after a while.
I've been thinking more and more about social work lately, as I would like to have some direction and that's a direction I'd like to go in. Plus, with a degree in Biology and Computer Science, experience in web design, personal tutoring and high school teaching, what could be a more logical choice?? Now, if I could just find a way to do it outside the US and feasibly...:)
Peace
John
