Another year has flown by in the blink of an eye. The older I get, the faster they seem to go. Overall, 2018 was a great year -- I was relatively healthy, got to explore Eastern Canada, took on student teachers, met new people, got out of my comfort zone and taught an option class that I have no experience in (robotics/programming), and so much more! It's also the last year of my 20's, which makes it somewhat more special to me.
Reflecting back on January... I believe I was trying to survive teaching grade 9, which was a challenge in that it was a PAT course with pressure to get students to do well. Fortunately, the vast majority of them did well in June, which was a huge sigh of relief. It also helped that I had a very strong group of kids in my group!
February... my first time being the Science Fair Coordinator at my school was probably my biggest highlight. The last time I took responsibility for a large event was probably in my second year for Career Day. Either way, we tried new things with relative success. As the Science Fair Coordinator again for this school year, it'll be good to reflect back and refer to feedback we got from colleagues!
March... I cannot recall anything significant in March besides coaching badminton and having help! It makes a huge difference to have another coach with you. Some people may scoff at badminton, thinking it's a backyard sport, but tell me that after being responsible for 50+ kids at a time (during tournaments) and hosting at least three practices a week, besides making up lessons for grade 9, marking and other lesson planning... It was a stressful month (along with April) but I certainly felt that it made me into a stronger person. Also, once again, I'm grateful for all the help I received with assistant coaching and supervisors for tournaments!
April is a lot easier to remember since I can refer back to my blog! Turning 29 was significant because it marks the end of my 20s. I'll reflect on my 20s more for my last post for the 365 Day post challenge. Another stressful month, but Your Lie in April and Violet Evergarden (one of the best anime series of 2018 in my opinion) kept me sane. April 12th marked a blackout at work, which was a first for me. I recall spending the morning trying to keep my students entertained as we wait for power to be restored. On the 17th of April, I finally (or I should say, my students) got a 3rd place finish in Badminton! The first in my books as a coach for the past 4 years! I also went back to building Gundams, with me finishing up building my MG Phenex.
May meant the school year is about to finish. My dad came back on the first, and it meant bringing back Onigiri! I made it a pledge to go to Japan every other year, since every year is too expensive for me. =( Speaking of Japan, my brother found the Eevee toy he bought for me during Japan 2017 that I apparently left inside my luggage. May also meant field trips, and one of them was rescheduled and eventually cancelled due to increment weather and conditions.
June is an interesting month; school is almost over but huge exams mark the end of the year so it's one final push to the finishing line. I managed to finish the curriculum with enough time for review. My grade 9s did well, none of my grade 7s failed the final exam and my grade 8s... about five failed.
July was mostly learning to program. I was excited at the prospect of teaching a new course! Other than that, nothing out of the ordinary happened. August was vacation time -- Eastern Canada is never at the top of my list of places to visit, but it's sad that I've seen more cities in Japan than I did of my own home country. I would go back to Toronto and Montreal, but I don't know if I can say the same for New Brunswick or Ottawa.
September, October, November and December was work mostly (and the gym). I'm glad to say that my current students have been awesome and life is going well! Also, I started watching some new series like Goblin Slayer (okay), Sword Art Online III (okay), That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime (pretty good) and Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai (Seishun Buta Yarrou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai -- simply amazing... perhaps a contender for best anime of 2018).
Though enough reflecting for one post. 2018 was a great year overall, and I'm hoping that 2019 will be awesome once again! To everyone's good health for this upcoming year!
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