Summer Latin Institute - DAY 7, 10:55 a.m.

I'm going slightly rogue right now. Ideally I should be hovering outside the doors of the classrooms where the second hour of morning drills is taking place, learning how to be a better teacher by observing my colleagues.

Instead, I am in my office with a fresh cup of Starbucks tall dark. I'm wiped. I need some me time.

Last night I was on the phone with a student from 10:00 to 11:45 p.m. This morning I was with students in my office from 8:30 to 9:20 a.m. Then I administered the quiz to my drill group and did the first hour of morning drills. I was slow; that is, we were supposed to get through sentence 8, and we only got through sentence 4 by the time 10:30 rolled around. We do not like to keep students late. They need their me time, too.

Being slow is kinda bad. It means the colleague who follows me has to pack even more into the second hour of drills than was already planned. On the other hand, you can only push the pace so much before you are just pushing verbal spaghetti through students' mouths. My guys (of both sexes) are having a hard time wrapping their heads around participles (who doesn't?), and I have to walk them through it with patience and persistence. It takes time.

I will learn from this experience and, one would hope, be able to push harder and go faster the next time a similar situation arises. Yes, I say that; but I'm not really sure...maybe sometimes you just don't get through all the sentences, and that's that, and that fine.

More soon...

Note: The opinions expressed in this blog entry are those of the blogger, and do not represent the opinions of the CUNY Latin/Greek Institute, its students, faculty, or administration.