Back to School

8th grade Pre-Algebra classroom for my long term subbing assignment.

I survived the first week of school!

8^th grade algebra hasn’t changed much in the last 13 years, nor have I so it’s shaping up to be a fun 6 weeks. I definitely have my work cut out for me though. 193 students and 8 periods each day might be more than I bargained for. Forget learning all the students’ names, at this point I just refer to them as “hey you” and “no, not you, the one next to you.” I’ll work on differentiating students next week.

Another challenge to teaching at Vale Middle School is that it is directly across the street from Sea World. For reals… check out the view from my classroom window.

Every 30 seconds I hear the happy screams of the roller coaster riders.
By the end of 8^th period I’m happily screaming right along with them :)

You can see that if I make one wrong turn on the way to school, I’m literally in the splash zone at the Shamu show. Hmm. Kind of enticing in this 110 degree heat. Btw we’re at over 50 some odd days in a row over 100 here. (Ignore the fact that for 42 of those days we were west coasting it.) Luckily my mom and dad are coming to visit next weekend and they always bring the chilly Pismo weather with them. {This just in: Andrew checked the weather report and the day they arrive we’re due for shattered thunderstorms.} Woo Hoooo! Oh, make that “scattered” thunderstorms. Not nearly as exciting. No matter, my mom and dad are coming to visit! Yay!!!