Academic Pile Up

(*Sarcasm & humour are extensively used in this post).

There exists a tradition in education that has been passed down from generation to generation and is practiced by educators everywhere: before students leave on vacation, ‘dump-a-ton’ of assignments on them. With summer just five weeks away, secondary student teachers, such as myself, have been hit with a wave of individual/group assignments & presentations. Can’t you just feel the academic love in the air?

As it stands, I have 3 Unit Plans, 2 presentations, and an activity to complete before the arrival of summer. The terms ‘academic binge’ comes to mind. It may appear overwhelming and impossible to complete but I’ve been through worse during my undergraduate years, so completing this list shouldn’t be a problem. I no longer get the ‘all-the-teachers-are-punishing-me-with-work’ mentality that younger students get.

I can see the benefits of completing these assignments such as improving my lesson planning skills and potentially using the activities I’ve come up with in a real classroom setting.

On the job searching front, it’s quite interesting going from business to business with a CV in your hand, looking for openings for the summer months. I wonder if employers see us as job searchers or pesky solicitors? With the word out that I’m looking for summer work, I just have to hope that I get a reply soon and pass the interview. Hopefully, something will come up because there remains 5 weeks. I’m still thinking whether I should work in Australia for the summer. If that turns out to be the case, will I have to change my BLOG title to ‘Blogging Down Under’?

Sometimes, I wish my job would be looking for a job because I would make a fortune! Or maybe I should do what the artists do: cover myself in paint, splat myself onto a wall and sell the result for $5 million dollars.

Aside from the College of Ed workload and job hunting, this past week was normal. This weekend is three days instead of the usual two because of Labour Day. I know – Labour Day in late October! In North America, Labour Day is always the last day of vacation for students. As well, I’ve received word that my parents have begun their Down Under tour and will be meeting up with my older brother in Canberra. The last leg of their tour will be a visit to me in late November so I better make sure I’m showered and ready.

The weather has been a mix of sunshine, overcast clouds, warmer temperatures, and scattered showers. The approaching summer also means the return of allergy season. I’m allergic to dust & pollen of all things, it makes me sneeze . . . like a Japanese poet, ‘Haiku!’ To cure my summer sneezes I’ve been taking Benadryl tablets, like the two I just took before writing this post. And it seems . . . they’re making me . . . drowsy . . . so I’ll stop . . . for now . . . and . . . zzzzzzzzz . . . zzzzz . . .zzzzzzz . . .