BY PRINCIPAL (MR. MOBSBY)
This morning, instead of being the Principal sitting in my office, I joined G1 as a student, following some of the students from Water2, G1.8 as they go through their lessons.
The morning started at 7:50 with registration and a few minutes to read the Daily Bulletin on my laptop, then off to English class. It was a good friendly atmosphere in the class and the G1 students made me feel welcome. English was fun and we were listening to the presentations about superstition that the students had prepared in their previous lessons. It was especially fun for me hearing about the funny British superstitions that I grew up with, such as breaking mirrors or seeing magpies. The teacher was effective as he gave the students good advice on their presentations and how they good make improvements for the futre.
Next came the climb up to the 5th floor for Chemistry. When we arrived, my classmates told the teacher that I was the new student in their class. This lesson was an introduction in how to use the chemistry equipment, pipettes and burettes and how to calculate percentage error. It was quite tricky handling the equipment and there was lots of explanation to listen to and understand and safety – we all had to wear safety glasses and those with open sandals had to wear boots to protect them in case anyone dropped or broke the glassware. It was really hard to get everything done in the time and we had to work fast – there was no time to try again if we got it wrong.
After the next break came the last lesson of the morning, and this time it was optional subjects so I joined an Economics class and it was presentations again! This time the students in the class were presenting about Opportunity Costs. It was interesting to listen to but there were many technical, economics specific words to try and understand. I think I did manage to understand but I was now thinking about lunch coming soon… The students were so interested in some of the presentations, asking involved questions, they could have carried on discussing for hours but finally the bell rang and it was lunchtime, the end of my morning as a G1 student.
It was great to have a morning with the students without the concerns and decisions of my normal daily routine but still hard work. I thank the teachers whose classes I joined and the G1 students I was with who were happy to make me welcome. What a great experience.
