Today was my first Primary Ethics class of the new school year. I expected to have the Year 6 class again this year, but when I got to the school and picked up my class roll, I saw that it was the combined Year 5/6 class. There are about 26-27 students from each of Years 5 and 6 doing Ethics, which is too much for one class. Rather than split each Year into two small classes, there’s a Year 6 class, a Year 5 class, and a combined Year 5/6 class. The two years do the same material at the same time, so this works out fine.
I was a bit confused and waited around for the teacher who had the Year 6 class. She said that she’d been given that class because her own daughter was in it, and she’d requested to be able to take her daughter’s class. So I’m not in the same classroom as last year either, but instead in a smaller room inside the library. This room has just one chair (for me) so the kids are sitting on the floor. But my class is only 15 kids this year, compared to 21-22 in previous years, so it feels a lot more compact.
And we had a really good introductory lesson! I was pleased not to see any warning signs of behavioural issues, and we all had a really good discussion of the introductory question (about whether lying is always wrong). I have a good feeling that this is going to be a more enjoyable experience with these kids than the class I had last year.
And one of the girls turned out to be the sister of a boy I had last year. When I read her name on the roll and saw the surname, I said, “Do I know your brother Tom?” (name changed for anonymity)
She answered, “I don’t know. I do have a brother named Tom, but I don’t know if that’s who you mean.” Nice – a little bit cheeky, but in a friendly way.
I said, “I think it is your brother. I had him in my Ethics class last year.”
She asked, “Did he behave badly?”
I said, “… He wasn’t the worst behaved in that class.”
When I got home and told my wife about my new class, I said I had Tom’s younger sister. She knows Tom because his mother used to work with my wife. And it turns out my wife has actually met Tom’s sister, when her mother brought her into work a few times, and she (Tom’s sister) liked playing with Scully. So… I’ve met a new student who already knows my wife and my dog.
On the way home I drove by the kitchen supply place and ducked in to get a rolling pin, a bread tin for baking loaves, and some silicone baking mats as long lasting replacements for all the baking paper sheets I’ve been using, and also to use as a kneading surface instead of a cutting board, which is what I’ve been using up to now. While there I also spotted a small wok. My wife and I had been discussing getting rid of our large electric wok, which we hardly use because it’s packed in a cupboard behind a bunch of more regularly used items, so it’s annoying to get in and out. I figured replacing the electric one with a smaller stovetop wok would free up some kitchen space for us, and mean I can use a wok more often in cooking.
Then at home I worked on my slides for my Outschool class on Human Vision. I have most of them done now, but still need to finish it off, hopefully tomorrow.
New content today:
