Back to school

I've been back at work for the past two weeks.

The teachers started on September 2nd, and the students returned on the 4th.  

Our building does not have any air conditioning outside of offices and computer rooms, and we've had some pretty heinous days of humidity so far in which people could talk of little else. Funnily enough, I'm pretty sure my marathon experience prepares me well for such days. When I've put myself through the masochism that is marathon training, being trapped in a room with smelly teenagers with sweat rolling down my back doesn't bother me too much.  I'm also the only teacher in the building who hasn't brought in a fan from home since the school won't provide them.

While we aren't provided fans, it turns out that every teacher in the district is receiving a brand new iPad this year.

I'm pretty excited since I've never owned one (seems kind of silly when I already own an iPhone and MacBook), and there are a lot of interesting German-related apps I can use in the classroom.  But while I'm ready to embrace the change, there are teachers in my building who have been teaching since the seventies, and I don't think they quite know what to make of this shift.

Then, in October, every student in the district, from 3rd to 12th grade, is going to receive an iPad as well.  I've seen how my students take care of their smartphones, so I'm a bit dubious as to what will become of the majority of these iPads.  But I'm in a district that wholeheartedly believes in technology as the wave of the future, so fad or not, it looks like they're here to stay.

Looks like it's going to be a long year with a steep learning curve.