Rumors

In an effort to share the love, all the teaching groups switched tutors a few days ago. I now have silly Neil as my tutor, who is quite laid back. We bring our lesson plans to class and wait for Neil to check them over. Meanwhile, Neil makes up excuses to go smoke with the Spanish professors, leaving us to plan out our lessons ourselves. It's fly or plummet to the ground in this group. A good change, I suppose. As I am quite worried about my upcoming lesson on grammar (the kryptonite to my teaching style), I try to consult Neil, who isn't in his office. Instead is the third tutor, a man who has gotten a dastardly reputation for being a Grumpy Gus. I ask him if he can help me out. After about five minutes together, while I am packing up my things, he tells me, "I hear you're doing very well in the course." I mutter something about "I really hope so" to sound self-deprecating. I blush.

Because Cathy is an excellent teacher and only the other four people in her group can watch her teach, she has earned the mythical status of being the best teacher trainee around. People whisper behind her back that her lessons are filled with laughter and that everyone understands her. She doesn't know what to do with all the extra attention. The other day, after having slept two hours and working like a beast on a lesson plan that didn't turn out how she would have liked, she burst into tears. The other trainees, shocked, whispered furiously amongst themselves. Her group consoled her. Someone looks at me and says [and I quote], "You know if Cathy --the pillar of the Teacher Trainees-- is crying, then it's bad." Cathy's status as human superstar was solidified.