Anybody see the truck that ran me over?

Holy. Cow. I'm. Tired.

Some quick observations: I'm tired. I forgot how exhausting it is being "on" for hours on end. The activity level at my other job went in bursts: sometimes there would be really intense action and a lot of demand, and then there would be relatively long lulls. Now, the last three periods of my day are one right after the other for me and it's action, action, action. Leaves me feeling a little ragged.

And those last three periods are what's called "project physics", or physics for students who need a physics/science credit but who probably aren't going on in science. Those students need a little extra help in terms of motivation, since they might not be very interested in being there in the first place.

Some of my classes are very small and some are large and the difference in managing them is pretty significant. Time management is a really big issue in the larger classes, and after only one day on the job I can clearly see the argument for smaller class sizes. Maybe my perception will change as I become better at classroom management.

What a whirlwind. I think I'm going to go to bed now.

First day!

Today is our first day in front of students. A big career decision, few years of planning, a big move, saving up and taking the required classes, and it's finally here.

I'm a little overwhelmed, but in a good way.

Deep breath and...

Union guy

Today, we were going through teacher orientation at OPRF, and as a part of that we had an opportunity to join the teachers union. It's not compulsory, but if we elect not to join we pay a "Fair Share" fee since the contract we signed had already been negotiated by the union. At least this is how I understand it.

The fair share fee is close enough to the annual union dues that it doesn't make much sense not to join, so here I am.

I never saw myself joining a union. I'm in a really alien world, and I guess it will take me a while to come to grips with it. It continues to be an interesting journey for sure.

Here we go!

I've signed a contract and I'm happy to announce that starting next week, I'll be teaching physics at Oak Park and River Forest High School in Oak Park, IL.

I have a great mentor and I can't wait to get started!