On Monday morning, I got to work fairly early feeling relaxed and refreshed from the weekend. Abby had ended up staying with my mum for both Friday and Saturday nights so Imogen and I had a lot of time to reconnect. Of course Imogen used some of the time to apologise for our argument, despite my telling her it was unnecessary.
"Morning Mr Nelson." I waved at a group of my students as I walked through the school grounds, headed for the arts building. When I got to the staffroom, I shoved my things into a locker and joined a few of the other teachers chatting by the coffee machine.
"We've got a newbie coming in today." One of them told me, grinning a little.
"What?"
"Charlie's not here today so they've got a freshly graduated teacher covering for him." I frowned. Charlie and I had both only worked here for a week. Something must have happened for him to have to take a day off. I remembered that I had his phone number saved in my phone so I excused myself from the conversation and grabbed my phone.
Heard you're not coming in today. Hope everything's okay. ~ Nick
I tucked the phone into my pocket, noticing that it was almost time to go. I'd just grabbed my things and was heading out the door when my phone buzzed, signalling a new message.
Thanks for thinking of me. I'm okay, just have to look after Nathaniel for a few days. ~ Charlie
I understood the need to suddenly drop everything for our kids. There'd been numerous times that I'd gotten a call from Abby's school or daycare that she needed to be picked up because she was sick. It was all part of being a parent and I loved it.
Sending my best to him. See you when you get back. ~ Nick
I headed off to my class, finding the students already eagerly waiting.
"Good morning." I greeted them as I approached.
"Morning Mr Nelson." They chorused, following me out to the field.
"Okay, I have some bad news for you all." I smirked a little when they all groaned. "It's time for your first assignment of the semester."
"Mr Nelson?"
"Yes, Sophie?" I looked towards the student who'd raised her hand.
"Um, I know it's only your second week but we usually work in pairs for our assignments." I had to struggle to keep from rolling my eyes. In just the week I'd been working here, I'd already managed to pick out the students who were going to be a handful, and this was one of them.
"I was getting there, Sophie. Let's just leave questions till I'm finished, yeah?" There was a general hum of agreement around the room and Sophie slumped down in her seat a little. "Right, so your first assignment is simple; create a 30 day workout plan. In pairs, you'll work together to research different exercises and stretches that can be put together to make a personalised plan. You can choose if the plan is for one of your pair or for someone else. I'll expect to see a detailed discussion on each exercise and how it can benefit a person's fitness or strength.
"Mr Nelson?" Another student raised their hand politely and I looked over.
"Yes, Ethan?"
"Does it have to be for in a gym or can it be like an outdoor circuit training program?"
"That's up to you. The idea is to see how you can adapt an exercise program to best fit yourself or a person you chose. Yes, Chloe?"
"So we have to make for every day? What about rest days or whatever?"
"I want you to try and cater it to an individual person. Some people will work better with a rest day , while others will work best with exercise every day."
"Do we need to present the program in a certain way?"
"Thanks for that question, Ryan." I slowly started walking around in front of the students, feeling them watching me as I moved. "I want this assignment to be a way for you to show me what you can do. So, you can present it however you like. If you chose to create the program for one of your team, you could present it by having that person run through a day's set. Or you could simply present it in a folder, with each day detailed out with activities."
"When is it due?"
"Well, since you need at least 30 days, plus time to present the program, I'm giving you until the fifteenth of November. That's and extra week on the 30 days of the program to work on how you present it to me. I'm giving you today's lesson to get started. Get some ideas, run them by me to make sure you're on track. After today; it's homework."
"Wait, do we get to choose our partners?" Sophie spoke up again and I shook my head.
"Unfortunately, no. I've already paired you up. This way you can both work together on the project and even find some new friends." There was a general hum of approval from the students as I made my way to the front of the group and picked up the sheet of paper where I'd written down the pairings. "Okay, come to me to find out your partner, then get together, start brainstorming some ideas. I want each pair to have at least three ideas by the end of the lesson."
"So, we have to start the plan tomorrow?" A red-haired girl in the back of the room asked.
"Ah, Bonnie, you're late." I noted it down on the roll as she quickly joined up with the girl I'd paired her with.
"Sorry, Mr Nelson. It won't happen again."
"I hope so. Now, as for the program, since I'm giving you a week longer than the 30 days, you don't have to start tomorrow but I would highly recommend it. Right, let's get started. You've got a lot of work ahead of you."
