I had a wonderful time off from work travelling and seeing some of the things that Oman and Egypt have to offer. I would tell anyone and everyone that they are both incredible places and should be on the travel list of anyone interested in the Middle East or history.

Coming back from break was a hectic mess of due dates, deadlines, and declining behaviour. After the month holiday the students have forgotten how to line up, listen, transition, and everything else. It’s like coming back from summer all over again. On top of that we had a week after returning to complete our marking and grading for the quarter and turn them into report cards. The school is trying a new system of comments where there are a number of pre-selected comments already written and coded into the system and you simply select the corresponding number and the comment appears. This is convenient for speed but difficult for communicating what you need to communicate with the parents.

(Un)luckily the school also holds it’s Parent Teacher Conferences the day after report cards are sent home. A few parents come to talk about their child’s social development or to ask a question or say “Thank You for your hard work”, most come to ask why there student is getting Cs. One parent even asked if there was nay way to have the grade fixed. Bribing me to get your child a higher grade is not going to work. You will have to work with your son and support him, just like I do.

One parent told me she was a teacher and she knew her son was smart and should get better marks. I told her he might be smart but I never see completed class work so I don’t know. He never stops talking to his friends even when he is moved to an isolated area he doesn’t do the work. Sometimes he does it if I keep him from recess long enough. The homework is too neat to be written by the student, so I can only assume it was done by the mother or a tutor.

Your child doesn’t have to be the top of the class to be doing well. Judge your child on their improvements and not by their ranking in class. I have one student who is learning English as his third language. His mom isn’t worried about his ranking in class but if he tries hard, participated in class, and has good behaviour.

The other thing PTC’s remind me is that I talk too fast. Some of the parents speak very good English, some speak a little, some speak none and I don’t make it easy for them to understand when I speak at my normal pace. My assistant teacher is always reminding me to slow down.

On top of reports and getting ready for parent meetings, we were told we have Sports Day in 10 days and need to prepare for that. We have a long weekend coming up but the Ministry of Education may change the days so plan extra lessons. We have 100 days of school coming up. We have Honour Roll ceremonies to prepare for and on the same day have to find time to meet with a representative from the textbook publishing company. All before the end of February. I can’t wait for March and the chance to slow down.