Yellow lace tank top under sweet pea pink and off white ¾ length sleeve blouse, black Editor slacks from Express. Shoes, made in Japan black heels with crystals.
Jewelry and accessories: Blue Coeur de Roses necklace by Lalique, my grandmother’s ring, and D’s bracelet (that she bought me with the Mawry heart, crafted in sterling silver). Nails, red. Toes, purple (left over from my cousin’s wedding).
Hair: Curly
Make-up: Frosty brown Shadow and shimmery mac lipglass.
Why so much attention to my clothes, you may ask…
Welcome to my third semester teaching French here at CC (in absence of disclosing the school, I will use the abbreviation CC for city college). The attention that went into my appearance today was not even a fraction of the effort and time that went into planning my lesson, syllabus, and activities. Oh the syllabus!
If you ever had one of those, ‘I should have trusted my gut’ moments… the story of my USB flash drive fits into that feeling. On Friday (3 days ago), I was putting the finishing touches on my syllabus when 1 pm lunch rolled around. Leaving to take my lunch, I reached down and grabbed my purse (Longchamp’s Ceci est un It bag—brassy orange color) and glanced at my flash drive. One of those thought provoking glances. Deciding against grabbing it, I opted rather to my stomach growling and craving Indian Food. After lunch I came back and the person who covered me told me that her cell phone dropped on top of my flash drive and “it” doesn’t seem to be working. “It” was my flash drive. Her cell phone escaped unscathed.
Retrieving temporary files and finishing the syllabus (all the other documents were lost), I started anticipating and nervously awaiting the first day of class. Professional Collaboration Day at CC was informative. Each time, I can meet new and existing instructors here.
Opening the door to your classroom on the first day of school is a surreal experience. You don’t know who or what lies beyond the threshold.
In my case, a wide variety of people, so wide in fact, that their were not enough chairs or accommodations for the students. My classroom’s maximum capacity is 32 students. We were at around 40. People sat on the floor for a bulk of our first day of school.
Any remarkable students?
Yes (but of course!—Mais oui, bien sûr!)
I have a mother/daughter pair today who both wore purple tops and purple jewelry. An Indian husband and wife who want to immigrate to Quebec. A student name Wrigley. Another student who wore a headscarf and sat in the back of the class. Fatima and Hoda (my Persian dynamic duo- they were my students last year, and there are a lot of fun). A student named Jose who doesn’t like chocolate or candy…
A student who logged on to Blackboard (our online integrative classroom, where I post things from each lecture) and completed the student information page at home, BEFORE coming to school! I was so pleasantly surprised. An older gentleman named Roman (a name that I love). Diverse classrooms are the best, because you have a literal melting pot of cultures and personalities. A diverse classroom is never boring and is always fun to teach.
I let class out at *:20pm, after a full lecture and the visit to the foreign language laboratory.
Fatima and Hoda stayed behind to say hi and to talk.
My friend Leah (from my Chinese class, Fall 2009—I took the class for fun), walked by and saw me, so she came in. Her son started kindergarten at a public school. Leah met with the principal today because her son’s teacher wants him to cut his hair and not have long hair. That’s when you know that things have gone to far… When your kid’s teacher dictates to you his/her preference as far as how to raise your child.
The rush of teaching finally subsided for me and I vow never to instruct my students to do something that oversteps my bounds as a teacher and into that of a parent. Ironically Leah is a teacher.
I’m looking forward to new adventures.
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