...with a reputation that precedes me

So first I must apologize for my delinquency in posting. This is certainly my longest hiatus in blogging - on this particular blog, at least - and I don't plan on repeating it until I draw it to a close (which will happen when I am certain my time in Honduras is drawing to a close itself). In fact, I hope I can revitalize my blogging with a fervor not yet seen on "I May Be in Honduras..." Now that the apology is out of the way, let's move on...

I just began my third year of teaching. Year 3, Day 1 was a half day, with an assembly on top of it, cutting classes down to about 15 minutes apiece. Fortunately, I have 2-period blocks with each of my 3 11th grade classes, giving me close to 34 minutes of time with each, which is actually long enough to do something! I opened with my trademark joking around and looking/acting awkward to make the kids laugh, then moved into a devotional surrounding Haggai 2:4-5, in which Haggai is talking to Zerubbabel and the Israelites as they work to rebuild the Temple after the Babylonian exlile: through him, the Lord tells them to be strong and work, rather than fear the magnitude of their undertaking, for He is with them and His Spirit is among them. I related this to the undertaking (magnitudes may vary) for each of the students in my three sections to ace, or merely pass, or merely survive their 11th grade year and wind up as seniors. I don't devotionalize often (something I hope to improve this year as I have a more regular schedule), and even when I do, it doesn't feel authentic all the time. But boy did it today. I could feel God in what I was giving to my students. Please pray that this can continue, that I can continue to effectively shine His light on my students and coworkers.

All in all, it was a successful first day. I've been back in Hondu for 9 days, or rather this is my 10th day in the country, or whatever - I arrived on the 14th, and today's the 23rd. Got it. It has felt surprisingly good to be back. I'm living in the same, rather great house, and it just feels in many ways like last year never quit, and that's a good thing for someone who's been frustrated with his transient life situation for the last 7 years and desires to just settle somewhere long-term. One of my 2 roommates is new, and Ben is a great guy to live with me and Matt, who has already been established as a great guy through a year of roommatehood. Additionally, the rest of the community, new and old, is a great group of people. I have already valued the time I've been able to spend with my old friends, and the new crowd is chock full of fun folks. Couple that with being used to the quirks and frustrations of life in Honduras, and I'm able to apporach these days from a thankfully similar mindset as I do the days of summer.

Speaking of summer, it was one of the best on record. Seriously. Everything has been going great for the last 3 months or so. Compare this stretch with the equivalent months of 2009, where I was legitimately, if not officially clinically, depressed, and you have one of those discrepancies that can only be attributed to God working in various areas of my life. But back to summer: I was able to make some worthwhile and gratifying purchases, including the new laptop I'm typing on, some trendy and thrifty additions to my wardrobe, and some exciting new books, albums, and DVDs. I saw some interesting movies and plays, managed to make it out to the beach a couple of times, spent a good deal of time with important friends who are still in the West Michigan area or who were able to make it up at some point during my stay, and I went to 2 excellent concerts: Bon Iver and the Decemberists, as well as 2 major league baseball games, including my beloved Detroit Tigers. Most importantly, though would be the start of a new and extremely promising relationship. That dominated my time home, and it dominates much of my thoughts down here (fortunately, I have work to distract me at intervals). Long distance is not fun, though I am very confident of everything working out positively :)

(I know I'm jumping back and forth from topic to topic, but there wasn't a good place to stick this in the first-day paragraph with my tangential writing style.) This year's students have come to me with a reputation. Perhaps one of the best reputations I've heard of for a grade level - from both teachers who had them in 9th grade AND teachers who have them last year. And while the first day is not necessarily an accurate portrayal of 3 classes of 11th graders, I can see that reputation proving itself. Talk about gratifying. Certainly, I can see students who may give me challenges, but I think I'm more than prepared to handle any behavioral/management issues gracefully at this point.

Also, at this point in my career, I am pleased to have a fairly solid reputation as a teacher built up over my past two years, especially the past year. I feel that this only sets me up for more success. My students are expecting to enjoy my class, at least somewhat. I don't feel pressure to entertain, or amuse, but I think I'm set up to have an entertaining, amusing, and most importantly insightful class. I may not know many individual students from this year yet, but seeing them in my room, responding to what I was saying, felt as though I was talking to students who've already had me for a month, because they know a fair amount about me. That's going to be a tough thing to give up when it does come time for me to move on to the next step in my life.

I don't want my first post in 4.5 months to be a real lunker, even though there's plenty to talk about. Rather, I'll try to make up for it in more frequent posts in the coming weeks. Suffice it to say, life is remarkably positive right now. It feels good to be back, in more ways than one.