Long time, no see
Hey, hey, ladies! How's everyone? It's been ages since I last visited properly. I've missed you! Here's what I've been up to - some changes in my life since I last posted. I got a new job, a permanent teacher's position this past month. I'm on summer vacation now, but will start in the new school in mid-August. I'm very happy about the opportunity (tenure is always super great!), but all the same a little torn. I'm leaving so many very lovely students behind and in a way I'm a little sad because I'll not be teaching them anymore. It's silly, I know, because there'll be wonderful new students to meet in the new school. And also, I can't help but be a little nervous, too - and that shows in my dreams! What a fun vacation, when all I do is have bad dreams about the new job... :roll: My vacation has been a little stressful for me also because of the huge kitchen & plumbing renovation that's going on in my apartment & our apartment building (the plumbing work has been for the whole building). The whole project has gone relatively well, but I've now been without a fridge, oven or any other kitchen appliance (or sink / waterlines) for over a month! It's not very convenient, I can tell you... Luckily I've been able to house-sit for my parents who were vacationing in Tuscany for several weeks, but now that they're back home, I'm feeling like I'd really like to get back to my place already. It would be luxury not have to drive back and forth every day to see what's been going on in my apartment and then back to my parents' place for food and sleep. Oh, and don't even get me started on the mess the renovations have made. Imagine very fine dust from drilling holes into walls spread evenly out in my whole apartment! I had to cover most of my furniture with bedsheets to prevent everything becoming matte grey. I'm not looking forward to the cleaning bit too much, heh. It'll all be worth it, though. My new kitchen will be very nice! Yay! :applaud: So there. That's what I've been up to, and I'll try to catch up with everybody's posts now. :wink:

I too had been very busy for a while and am now back. I appreciate how stressful the time is for you, but how exciting all your stresses are! New space in an old home! New faces in a new school! I teach 2nd grade and one of the best yet scariest parts for me is the newness each year. Enjoy the excitement of the newness, and let us know how you do! I will report on my new class in the fall also! Snogg :horatio

Good to have both of you ladies back. Good luck on your new jobs. They are always scary, but a wonderful challenge with the new things you will learn. For my job in retail, summer and just before Christmas are the busiest times. Although I am looking forward to my trip down to L.A. in September. There is a lot of work between now and then.

:hug to both of you, my friends. At least you have a long Summer holiday to sort things out, thankfully. A Summer in Tuscany sounds lovely, Yavannie; it is a favourite destination for Finns? I hope everything settles down soon for you at work and home.

It sounds like you've been in for a lot of changes, Yavannie. I'm sure everything will turn out for the best in the end. Anyway, it is good to hear from you. I too had been very busy for a while and am now back. I appreciate how stressful the time is for you, but how exciting all your stresses are! New space in an old home! New faces in a new school! I teach 2nd grade and one of the best yet scariest parts for me is the newness each year. I'm always stunned when I hear that teachers in the US are assigned to a grade and they always teach that grade. In Italy, primary school (grades 1 to 5) teachers are assigned to a group of children, whom they pick in 1 grade and teach them up to 5th grade. I guess this takes the stress to meet new children each year, though how good this is depends on the class... it is a dream if you have a good class, a nightmare if it is a bad class.

Nice to hear from all of you, too! :hug Snogg, good luck with your new group in the fall! I hope you'll get the most wonderful bunch of kids to teach. :thumbs up Stevie, I don't think Tuscany is that popular for Finns, but my parents fell in love with the area a year ago, when they first rented a villa there. I'm hoping that one day I'll be able to take a trip like theirs with some friends, it's been wonderful for them. They drive down South from Finland (through Germany) and then make little day trips around their "casa" for a couple of weeks. And what's best - as they take their own car, they can bring sooooo much more wine & other souvenirs back with them compared to what they could, if they were flying. :wink: Frances, in Finland primary school grades 1-6 are taught just like you said they are in Italy. So a primary school teacher will in a best case scenario teach a group for 6 years in a row. Only on 7th grade and upwards every subject has a specialized teacher. I'm one of those specialized teachers, I teach only history (and in some cases Finnish) to different groups. But always so that if I start history with one group on 7th grade, I'll teach them on 8th and 9th grades also. But from now on I'll only teach grades 10-13, which is already a voluntary form of basic education in Finland. Students on 9th grade choose whether they want to go to a vocational school or the more academically challenging "senior high". I'm now exclusively a senior high teacher, which also was (and is) my dream job! Until this spring I also taught in junior high. This is now the reason I'm a little sad - in my former school (which is in a different town entirely) I had a few extraordinarily wonderful junior high students who I won't be able to "see through" junior high. It's so wonderful to see how they grow from tiny little 7th graders to young teenagers and then I have been able to see some of them continue to senior high and become young adults. Anyhow, life goes on and I'm pretty darned excited about the new challenges my new job will bring me! Gaffer, I hope you'll have an awesome trip to L.A. later! I know you've been waiting for it for ages! (Gosh, see how I ramble already? Old habits die hard, hehe.)

Hello Yavannie, So good to hear from you again! I know the feelings you are having about a new teaching assignment. (I taught for thirteen years at a vocational highschool,in its academics department. Grade 11,English) May you have the very best of good luck with your students and a wonderful school year ahead.

Thank you, Shipmate! I'm also hoping for a good year, even though I know that if anything, my year will be straining - lots of courses to teach and most of them courses I've never taught before and using new course books I've never used before... But when life offers challenges, you've got to face them with the right attitude and work hard! It'll all be easier the second time around. :wink:

I know,....I KNOW each and every one of those feelings.............

Frances, My training (a million years ago) was in early childhood education; philosophically it encourages multi-age teaching and staying with a group for 2-3 years. Very few public schools in the US do that.... It drives me crazy. So much for all that training. (Although I will admit there are some groups I wouldn't want to be with for years in a row!!!!) :wink: Snogg :horatio

You are right on that, Snogg. My niece and nephew are in a school district (elementary) that has a few classes with more than one grade and the students stay with the teacher for two years. They seem to like and benefit from it. But, that is far from common in most schools. More common in the U.S. (though States vary) is kindergarten and 1st through 3rd grade where each class has one teacher with an occasional visit from a music or art specialist. Some schools start with multiple teachers in 4th or 5th grade to prepare students for Middle school, also called Jr. High or Intermediate depending on the district. Middle School can be 6th, 7th and 8th / or 7th and 8th/ or 7th, 8th and 9th, depending on the district. High School is 9th through 12th or 10th through 12th. Some students do College Preparatory. Others a basic degree and others a more Vocation course. Some districts offer separate schools for these things, but many do not - at least in California and Washington. Occasionally, there will be special schools for gifted or slow learners. To make matters even more complicated, in our area, many of the High Schools don't or can't offer high level courses for the smartest students so they do something called Running Start. In Running Start, they attend college courses at the local Community College where they take their last two years of high school and earn a two year or Associate's degree from College. This means, if their grades are high enough they can enter another College or University as a 3rd year student. Though we are one country, education is not uniform in the U.S. as different States have some rights in the way they structure schools. All you teachers are such brave women. You are to be congratulated for your hard work.

In the UK, Primary (4-11) schools generally change teachers every year, though my kids Primary had some classes that were half one year and half another due to large numbers of pupils, some some kids stayed in that class for a second year. This means teachers tend to teach a set year (or grade to our US cousins). In Secondary school (11-19) teachers have a set subject and teach that to different year groups, with some concentrating on 'exam' years (16 and 18 years) for GCSE qualifications. Our secondary schools include alot more vocational training than when I was at Grammar school, as the state sector is primarily comprehensive (non-competitive entry) now. I had to pass an 'eleven plus' exam to get into Grammar School. (edited for my atrocious typos :wink: )

When I was in school, everyone went to High School (the last four years) . Everyone had to take English, Math, History and Science courses to Graduate. For those planning on College, they took more advanced versions of those classes, including more literature. The College bound also had to take at least two years of foriegn language. Our school also offered foriegn language at our Jr. High. They also offered Woodshop, Home Economics, Farming Classes, Typing or Business Courses, Art, Music and Drama. Even College bound students took some of these courses. We also had to take four years of Physical Education. Sadly, many schools don't require or offer P.E. I was fortunate to go to High School in a rather well off area, so we had a swimming pool, football stadium, tennis courts, etc. I realize how lucky I was as I get older.