Day 18

8.05 a.m. is the time my IB-DP 1st years lesson starts. Since Lena is in Dubai, I'm all by myself. Last week, I taught this class about synapses (flip book), homeostasis and diabetes. Then, I used an activity and dictating (writing notes on the whiteboard). For today's lesson, I chose to make a Prezi. This is what I normally do in the Netherlands and I wanted to try it out here. We would shortly discuss the hormones insulin and glucagon again, as that's what we ended with last week and then move on to thyroxin, leptin and melatonin. Most of this lesson went OK, however, it really is too early in the morning for me. We started of having some technical difficulties hooking a borrowed MacBook up to the smartboard (but luckily got that fixed in a minute or 5). Even though it felt awkward at first, Lena not being there, teaching this class that I hardly know on my own, I just went with it. These students however.. they are _so_ quiet. Taking notes, doing whatever on their MacBooks, I learned that I find it rather difficult to teach without getting much feedback from the students. But, we finished insulin/glucagon, we managed leptin and thyroxin all right. Apparently by then, my energy was pretty much used up and I was not on top of my game anymore, I messed stuff up with explaining Melatonin. I finished with a youtube video that was able to set it more or less straight. Next week, when I teach them again (and for the last time..) I'll make sure to repeat this hormone again (and maybe leptin and thyroxin too, just to be on the safe side) and I feel confident we can move on.
Conclusion 1: 8 o'clock in the morning is no time for teaching.
Conclusion 2: I'm OK teaching classes without supervision.
Conclusion 3: Whenever doing an electronic lesson (Prezi / whatever), make sure to have a backup plan, makes problem solving easier as it's less stressfull if in the end it doesn't work out.
Conclusion 4: Find ways to get students' feedback, stimulate them to respond, something, anything. Passive sponges are possibly even harder to teach than a bunch of 13 year olds in a state of acute sugar rush.

Lesson ended at 9.25, at half past 10 there's the weekly coffee and cheese sandwich in the physics department. Lena's not here, but another bio teacher ensured that I could just join them, and if they'd give me a hard time for it, I should just say that I'd be representing Lena. They didn't give me a hard time, it was a pleasant gathering again. Nice coffee (with normal milk! ^^), very nice bread, nice teachers talking mostly in English. I like this tradition a lot :-). I got to make two more interview appointments for my research. Also, a bio teacher invited me to observe / join into a lab lesson he was about to give at noon. It's amazing how short the lines are in this school, how welcoming the teachers are, and how joining in small events like having coffee together or having lunch together seems to contribute to shortening these lines even further.

The lab lesson was in a pre-IB class and focussed on gathering and organising data (the results section of a lab report). Students added different concentrations of H2O2 to a yeast solution, measuring the starting temperature and the temperature after a minute, repeating the experiment for eacht concentration 5 times. Students that were done, were allowed to leave early. Sure enough, after an hour the most efficient group was done and left. The whole lesson took little over 1 1/2 hours in total. Although it seemed a bit boring to do the same experiment over and over again, students seemed to enjoy it. Furthermore, I really like that they are practicing just one part of a labreport. Apparently they do lab lessons every third week or so, making it possible to focus each lesson on a different part. Students do not need to write a report every time, but this time they did (only for the results section, the rest they could more or less leave out), deadline in two weeks.
The same teacher was teaching a lesson in Environmental Sciences (also an IB course) later in the afternoon and I had already planned to observe this lesson. Environmental Systems and Societies is 80% biology (and 20% physics / chemistry), but from a more philosophical point of view. The course adresses the interrelationship between societies and the environment (topics like global warming). Today's lesson was about several historical things that happend and promoted the 'green movement', the history of 'green thinking' (from declining whale populations to the start up of Greenpeace, to Tsjernobyl and Bophal). Very interesting, it took me straight back to the time when I studied Global Health. This course fits right into my background, very good to know that it exists and have a little insight in what it's all about. At the end, I got invited to the lesson next week on Wednesday, I'll make sure to join!
16.35. I've been in school for too long, I'm packing my stuf and going home, microwave dinner (leftover from yesterday, yay!) and bed.