On Monday morning, I got to work fairly early feeling relaxed and refreshed from the weekend. Penny had ended up staying with Jacob's parents for both Friday and Saturday nights so Jacob and I had a lot of time to reconnect. Of course Jacob used some of the time to apologise for our argument, despite my telling him it was unnecessary.
"Morning Mr B." 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 staff-room, 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?"
"Troye's not here today so they've got a freshly graduated teacher covering for him." I frowned. Troye 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. ~ Connor
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 Sam for a few days. ~ Troye
I understood the need to suddenly drop everything for our kids. There'd been numerous times that I'd gotten a call from Penny'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. ~ Connor
I headed off to my classroom, finding the students already waiting eagerly.
"Good morning." I greeted them as I unlocked the door.
"Morning Mr B." The chorused, following me into the room and finding their seats. After the first lesson, I'd decided to just let them sit where they wanted. it made it easier for them to be creative when they were sitting next to their friends. I waited a few moments for them to settle down before perching myself on the edge of my desk.
"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 B?"
"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; 30 days of photos. In pairs, I want you to take a photo of anything for 30 days. You can choose if it's the same thing or 30 different things. But you need to be able to discuss, in a 2000 word essay why you chose the subject and something significant about it. Why it stuck out to you as a photography subject."
"Mr B?" Another student raised their hand politely and I looked over.
"Yes, Ethan?"
"Does it have to be an inanimate object? Or can it be, like, a person or an animal?"
"That's up to you. The idea is to see how things change, whether it's the lighting around or the subject itself. Yes, Chloe?"
"So we have to take a single picture every day? What about if we miss a day, can we do two in one day? Like, one in the morning and one at night."
"I want you to try and make sure you get one photo every day. I don't mind if it's the same time every day, as long as it's every day."
"Do we need to present them in a certain way?"
"Thanks for that question, Ryan." I stood up and slowly started walking around the room, feeling the students watching me as I moved. "I want this assignment to be a way for you to show me what you see. So, other than the essay, you can present the photos however you like. In an album, a scrapbook, a slide-show, whatever you like. But make sure it reflects you and your partner."
"When is it due?"
"Well, since you need at least 30 days, plus time to present the photos and write the essay, I'm giving you until the fifteenth of November. That's an extra week to use for the essay and the display." I was now stood at the back of the room, several students turned in their seats to face 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 and picked up the sheet of paper where I'd written down the pairings. Grabbing a marker, I quickly wrote the pairings up on the board, listening to the chatter that started up behind me. "Okay, get together with your partner, 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 photos 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 B. It won't happen again."
"I hope so. Now, as for the photos, 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." I leaned against my desk again. "Right, let's get started. You've got a lot of work ahead of you."
