Triple Threat

I have become obsessed with checking out the Atlantic Ocean.

Right now there are two hurricanes in the ocean heading west along with a third tropical depression forming off the coast of Africa that looks like it could become a hurricane in another three or four days.  These hurricanes have a super small chance of actually staying this far south to where they will hit the Dominican Republic.  And I find myself in this weird mindset of being deathly afraid of them, but also wanting nothing more than to have to scrounge for boards to cover my windows with.  It's a weird catch-22 of sorts.

I start school on Monday, finally, but not without some setbacks still.  Today the school was in a panic when I arrived at 730 because the ethernet cable had supposedly been cut, meaning no internet in our rooms.  Apparently someone is installing a fire alarm system throughout the school and "accidentally" cut a wire on the roof that morning.  Luckily it was a false alarm and I was able to log in and use my computer normally.  However, I am still not able to use any wireless functions, which does not bode well, especially for my forensic science class.  It's such an internet- and computer-based course that I'm a little worried we may not get wireless in the room.

I have started to get lesson plans figured out, but it's difficult.  The school is on a rotating schedule with seven periods, but I only see five of them a day.  So day one, I see ABCDE, day two I see FGABC, and so on.  This basically means every seven days of school I see each class five times.  Yikes.  It can get confusing quickly.

I'm worried about my content that I have for both classes, or lack of content.  Teaching here is proving to be quite the struggle in terms of resources.  There are very little, and I'm going to be experimenting with putting almost everything online, including having students turn things in online.  I just hope it will actually work!

Once again, as every teacher does, I worry about my content mastery of the material I will be teaching.  It's a daunting feeling knowing that I am responsible for all of these students' educations and will have a profound impact on where they go and what they aspire to be after high school.  I have the power to turn them into a scientist, or to make them absolutely hate it.  It's scary.

Meanwhile, I will leave you with this picture.  It is a little blurry, but this is the first cockroach--and I hope and pray the last--that I have killed in my apartment.  My finger is in there purely for showing the size of it.  The actual body was about two inches long, and the antennae were as long as my index finger.  It was moving pretty quickly too.  These are pretty hard to kill without pretty much breaking the exoskeleton open and having stuff go everywhere.  Let's just say I am no Bear Grylls.  I don't know how that guy does it all the time on Man vs. Wild.

I will be at school all weekend getting last second things prepared for my class websites and trying to get as much of a jump on the next four months as I can.  I am almost one-tenth of the way done with my planning.  If I can double that in the next three days, I will be very, very happy.  ¡Hasta luego!