Chapter 42 - Back to Junior High (2018-2019)

Eric celebrated his 41st birthday quietly on the first day of junior high. It was a sudden thing for him to be teaching grade 7 and 8. One week before his birthday Eric was wondering how much work he would have, and before he knew it he had about a three-quarters time position teaching junior high math, science, and options at David Thomas King School (DTK) on the far (west) side of Edmonton. On top of that he had already taken teaching evening math upgrading courses at NorQuest College (NorQuest), and his continued tutoring through Lights on Mediated Learning Centre (LoML).

With the thought of only subbing for the year, Eric had already bought passes to the Edmonton Comic and Entertainment Expo in late September, along with photo ops and autographs with David Tennant, Matt Smith, John Barrowman, and Brent Spiner. It was Eric’s last really relaxing fun few days of the calendar year.

Eric’s teaching course load consisted of: High School Math Prep for NorQuest, Tuesday and Thursday nights - a course he enjoyed teaching; and at DTK there was grade 7 Math, grades 7 & 8 science, coding option (combined grade 7, 8, & 9), and foods option (combined grades 7, 8, & 9) which had another option time taught by Caitlin, a colleague.

Prior to Eric joining the DTK junior high team, Kelsy, the head of the junior high math and science division and the other math and science teacher, had entered DTK into the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP). The SSEP is a program that gives students a chance to design an experiment to be conducted in the micro-gravity of the ISS (International Space Station), one experiment from each school division that enters would win the opportunity for their experiment to actually be conducted. This was the first year that DTK, and the Edmonton Public School Division, entered the competition.

Eric was on board for this opportunity with the students, seeing the potential it could have. However, with his minimal experience teaching junior high, it became his first challenge to get the students interested, along with both his learning of what the experiment criteria and knowledge base was along with teaching the students the relevant components. By the end of the three months of the student work on the projects, Eric had come to realize that the competition would be better served by teachers with more experience and more ingrained in the grade subject matter than he was as a first time full-time grade 7 & 8 science teacher. He passed on this reflection to Lyndi, the principal of DTK.

Using up this time for the SSEP meant that Eric had to get through the curriculum in less time. With the slightly unstructured nature the classes had with the SSEP, getting the students on task for the rest of the year was yet another challenge for Eric. Despite his desire for more hands on explorative learning, Eric had to go with more traditional note taking, especially when a few students didn’t abide by laboratory rules (ruining labs for their classmates).

Outside the stresses of teaching, Eric’s basement renovations were completed and Lane moved into one of the basement rooms in October - Agnes and Matt still rented the main floor room. Eric completely wrapped up his connections with Spectrum Educational Supplies by shipping back all materials, also in October. Packing up one storage unit inspired him to pack up his personal storage unit, especially with renovations complete.

Socialization with friends and family was greatly appreciated when Eric had, or made the time. Especially around Christmas when his sister’s family came to visit; Samara, Geert, Sebastian, Klara.

As 2019 began, Eric returned to what became a routine for him: teaching daytime at DTK on the West side of Edmonton - with a switch of options in February to Leadership and Drama; teaching the same course for a second term at NorQuest, the same evening schedule - Tuesdays and Thursdays; and occasional tutoring at LoML.

Teacher’s convention, and other professional development, was a welcome reprieve from teaching. It gave Eric the opportunity to interact more with adults, share struggles, and learn new concepts for teaching - both classroom management and course content. Spring break was not as much of a break. He spent that time preparing for the final leg of the school year, alongside Ilene, his colleague who became a mentor. Eric had known Ilene since his first days teaching Robotics at Metro’s Cool School Summer Camp.

Spring brought more changes to Eric’s personal life: In March he rented out his last room to Alvina. April was the end of his work at NorQuest - he knew that three nights a week would be too much for him to handle for the spring term. With less evening teaching, Eric picked up more tutoring. May brought to light some minor health issues; repeated trips to the dentist to deal with some inadequate oral care. May also saw his house emptied with Agnes and Matt, and Alvina all moving elsewhere together - something known since Alvina moved in.

June and the end of the school year was a welcome to Eric. A discussion with Lyndi helped Eric come to terms with preferring to teach high school over junior high, this resulted in him not returning to DTK for the 2019-2020 school year, instead returning to subbing.

The summer gave Eric a chance to catch up on several things, from socializing to home improvements to preparation for the Fringe. On the home improvement front: Eric had to spend some time and money cleaning the main floor room from about two years of Agnes and Matt and their two cats living there, floor was refinished and the closet upgraded from one rail to a set of rails and shelving - similar to the other rental rooms; a self-pollinating kiwi was planted along the fence in the back lane; coloured LED lights added to the front lamppost; and new modem with WiFi extension pods. Socializing included: helping David, Eric’s father, get a new electric assist bicycle; Fringe prep work dates with Sheena at the library; attending PanFest; and coffee, meals, and other general hanging out with friends Eric had minimal time for during the school year.

Fringe was exciting as Eric hosted three performers from Egypt, made it to a number of shows, and enjoyed the festival feeling less stressed and with only volunteer shifts at the beginning and end of the festival.

Eric’s going with the flow summer rolled into his birthday. With no set plans, he decided to just enjoy the day in the country side out of Edmonton. Most of the day at Cottontail Corner beach, a nude beach near Devon, then a road trip in the early evening. As a gift to himself, Eric also bought an iPad and Beats sound canceling headphones with educator’s discount at the Apple store the day before his birthday.