First Days of School

After 4 days getting on Italy time, starting the assimilation process with their Viterbese families, and completing placement tests in Italian, Latin, and mathematics,  the students were ready to start school on Monday, September 9.

Monday and Tuesday of this past week were devoted to getting the kids up and running with 2 days of intensive Italian classes, lasting about 3 hours each day.  In addition, I got to meet with my AP Calculus students in the morning, since I have such few days with them over the coming year to get them ready for the exam in May.  The first regular school day began this past Wednesday, September 11.

Each class is 47 minutes long with a 3-minute traveling period between classes.  There are 8 periods in the day, with the students required to take 6 classes.  That gives everybody 2 free periods to do homework quietly in the main salone, hang out in one of the two terraces connected to the school, do work in the computer room, or another smaller "hang-out" where all of their "cubbies" are.  I teach 5 classes (1 algebra II, 2 precal/trig, 1 honors precal/trig, and 1 AP calculus), which gives me 3 planning periods during the day...and I will need every one of them to keep ahead of the work it will take to manage 4 1/2 preps (in December my AP Calc class will split into AP Calc AB and AP Calc BC).  Yikes!

I LOVE CHALLENGES (LOL)!  This might be my greatest challenge yet as a teacher.  But I'm up for it.  Bring it on!



At the helm of the SYA-Italy Experience is Mr. Pat Scanlon, the Resident Director.  He's in charge of pretty much everything!  You name it, the buck ultimately stops right at his doorstep.  This is the first time Pat is addressing the students, going over key elements of the student handbook, which not only covers academically-related items but issues concerning expectations while living with their host-families and living in Viterbo in general.

This picture was taken at our first general assembly.  Assemblies are every Tuesday at 3:20 p.m.  These assemblies cover upcoming events, especially what will happen each Friday, since non-AP students do not have any classes this day.  There will be many Fridays throughout the year where even the AP students will not have class (i.e. when we take day-trips out of town to places like Rome and Tarquinia).





SYA employs a college counselor every year for a special group of seniors in high school who wish to forgo their senior year back in the states for an abroad experience.  Here's a picture of the college counselor's bulletin board displaying some of the potential schools for which the students might be interested in attending.  I am glad to see that certain schools made the cut, especially the school (see upper left corner) with the largest poster displayed.  M GO BLUE!!  P.S. - I had nothing to do with this, I promise (lol)!!