Back to School

Welcome to my classroom.

R
Recently started my 5th year of teaching high school German.  The teachers started work on September 1st with two days of professional development, and the students returned on the 8th.

I teach six classes over five levels (1-4 and AP) in grades 8th through 12th.  I'm a one man show, as I like to say, with over a hundred students as my captive audience.  If you thought some of the jokes on this blog were bad, you should try spending time in the classroom with me.

As with every training cycle for a fall marathon, one of my biggest hurdles becomes adjusting to the new school year. Training starts in July when I have a lot of free time and can pretty much run any time I want to.  Once back in school, though, I have a very strict schedule I have to adhere to.  I try to arrive at school every day at 7am with first period starting at 7:45. The school day ends at 2:30, but we have to stay until 3.  My life is ruled by the school bell.

Strangely enough, I found the last time I went through this (in 2013) that the tighter schedule actually helped my training.  It forced me to be more disciplined and focused and not waste a second of the day, whereas summer training and the accompanying heat made for a more laissez faire attitude.

Not only do I have to find time to cram in training runs, but I also have to keep nutrition in mind.  Our school cafeteria is like most other American public schools in that "beige" seems to be the only item on the menu.  During the school year I have to work extra hard to make time for breakfast and then pack a healthy lunch for the day.

The marathon isn't until November 22nd, so until then, German rap and long runs, grammar charts and pushups, vocab games and sore legs must all coexist peacefully.  But once the marathon is over...