The first week at the high school: Still getting the schedule figured out

True to form, the high school co-teaching scheme has changed again:

• The 2nd grade classes have still been split, but now the halves been divided into all-male and all-female classes.
• One lesson per week.
• The 1st grade classes have still be split too, but now I see half of one section twice a week and the other half twice in the next week. 
• This means two lessons in a week, but those two lessons are good for two weeks at a time.
• Mr. Lee's back in the mix as a co-teacher. We didn't teach together last semester.
• No extra classes like English Conversation.
• Both English rooms are in use and only now have I figured out the scheme:
• JB and I have the Hemingway room.
• I'm in the Shakespeare room for the classes with Mr. Lee or Mrs. Park. 

Combined with the special events and lectures of the first week, I haven't seen all the kids yet and probably won't until at least next week. It'll be difficult to get each grade's classes on the same page for a while, but it'll happen one way or another. The students are rolling with the schedule changes a bit better than I am. I'm more amused than annoyed--I'm long past getting mad at sudden changes thanks to living here--especially when JB sees me in the empty room after the classes has supposed to start and says, "Ben...Why is no one here?" Usually the kids will barrel in within a few minutes because they themselves haven't been told what's going on yet.

Classes have been going well though. It's been a pleasure meeting the freshman boys and seeing the my former middle school girls adapt to high school life. They seem to have grown up somewhat in the two months between middle school and high school. They've also been less shy about speaking, and not in a "I'm a teenager and will give a 3-minute angry response to everything I hear" kind of way. They liked to do that in middle school. No, the girls have been speaking English more and seem less afraid of making mistakes. Maybe this trend will continue. The freshman boys are, true to Kirsten's words, quite fun. They have no fear of speaking up and showing off their vocabularies. Good for them. This is better than last year or even the first semester when everyone felt afraid to talk.

So far so good. It's Tuesday. Time to keep trucking on...