If Only I Had CPAC...

These are interesting times right now in the Parliament of Canada. During my three-month break, between School and Korea, I watched quite a bit of CPAC - to the point where I was getting excited for question period every day (reminder: it starts earlier on fridays). I'd absolutely love to have access to it this week. The drama that's unfolding is the stuff that Sweeps TV-weeks are made of. Unfortunately, i'm stuck watching it from afar - but it should be a very interesting week. Will Harper prorogate Parliament? Will the House be brought down? Stayyyy tuned (then you have to wait a whole weekend for the thrilling conclusion!). Whether you're a leftie, a rightie, or a person of bidextrous political leanings, it's definitely interesting stuff.

As for what's going on over here, though... The new school semester began on Monday. I've held on to both of my adult classes (which depend on the adults re-registering monthly), so that's pretty great. I continue to do overtime Monday and Wednesday (by having 7 classes), but i've thankfully been given a break for the Tuesday-Thursday block. On those days, i'm starting the semester with 6 classes, which will shrink to 5, once the Winter Camp classes are over. Winter Camp is an intensive, three-week long class, teaching about three seperate countries - South Africa, Canada, and England.

The kids that I have have been good so far, but it's way too early in the semester to assess who'll be good, and who'll be more difficult. My goal for this semester is to put on a much stricter face to all classes, and loosen up if i'm able to. I've taken a cue from some more experienced teachers, and i'm starting to implement more and more classroom rules. In the long run, it should help with the stability of each class.

I did have a problem i've never encountered before, though. One of my classes, which is composed of only four kids, is deathly quiet. All the time. One of the rules I implemented today was the 'Quiet' rule (where I say 3! 2! 1!, and after one, they're quiet) - but for this class, it's ridiculously unnecessary. I have to accomplish the exact opposite - get them to communicate (not just with me, but with each other). I tried a variation of the 3-2-1 thing, where instead of silence, I tried to have them yell a silly word (just to have them yell something). Nooope.

Ah well. I'm looking forward to the challenge.
Happy December.