Well, I have completed the first week of my advanced field experience (EDFX 450) at J. Percy Page. The walk to school from my house takes about ten minutes.

The science teachers hang out in the science office, and the place is full of unit binders, notes, and textbooks. I've had the chance to observe almost all of them in action this past week. I will get to teach my first class tomorrow (Chemistry 20). That will certainly be quite exciting. The boys in this class appear to be fixated on playing calculator games rather than listening. A recent development in classroom management, I'm sure. What could be better than having a monochrome video game system (TI-83+) disguised as a calculator?

I spent the weekend planning a week's (3 days) worth of lessons for chemistry, before the workload piles on the following week. Teacher's convention is taking place this week, so this marks the third consecutive week that the students haven't had a full week of classes.

What is the formula for chemical spill mix?

A. sodium carbonate, bentonite and sand, proportional by mass
B. sodium bicarbonate, bentonite and sand, proportional by mass
C. sodium carbonate, bentonite and sand, proportional by volume
D. sodium bicarbonate, bentonite and sand, proportional by volume

(I didn't know the answer, either. There goes 1 mark on the final exam.)

Now it's time to rush and finish my cover letter and autobiographical statements for the teaching jobs I am applying for.

Beautiful day outside. However, I'm in the computer lab working on my unit plan for some 20 consecutive lessons, plus questions that I would use on a unit exam.

I had the day off today, so I went to see my mentor teacher at J. Percy Page. The school is very spacious, and if she wasn't guiding me around, I'm sure I would have gotten lost. They have a lunchroom for math and science teachers at the east end of the school, where I met a few teachers. Then I went into my mentor teacher's classroom, which is a neat classroom because the lab benches are right there (no separate lab room required). We decided on my teaching assignments (Science 10 and Chemistry 20 and maybe Science 30) and then we went to the science prep room, where supplies and lab materials are kept, as well as work desks for the teachers. I was given my own desk! We then went to see the TeleLearning Centre and the library to visit the "textbook room", which is filled with textbooks for all subjects. She wouldn't let me have a worn-out copy of any textbooks, only ones in perfect condition.

Before I left, I was carrying, in addition to a notebook and the Science 10 program of studies, two textbooks, and two large binders filled with unit material. I weighed my load when I got home, and it was about 10 kg. This is with my shoulder bag, and my left shoulder was already hurtin'. Nonetheless, I managed to make it home in about 10 minutes.

I uninstalled the Microsoft .NET Framework from my computer, and I gained -2 MB in hard disk space. Pathetic.

Last night I met my university facilitator, and my "cohort", which consists of all of the students who are going to be completing their practicum at J. Percy Page. There are eight in all, in a variety of subjects.
My UF was giving her spiel for more than the hour we were alotted, and we didn't know there was an evening class afterwards, and the instructor was a bit upset with her. It appears that the course was ARAB 112. She stormed in with her class ten minutes after their class was due to start, and we had trouble getting out of the cramped classroom.