Back in the Swing (of things)

So, after a blip in the week due to more snow than I've seen in a while, I finally got to teach my first class of the new semester. It was a short block (45 min), so it wasn't super exciting - we spent most of the class reviewing - but it was a nice way to ease back into teaching. It's amazing how rusty you get over a break! Friday, I had two long blocks (80 min) so that was a bit more challenging, especially since I had assigned Latin 3 a quiz during the snow day. I was pretty sure they weren't going to be happy about it, but there wasn't as much grumbling as I had anticipated. Which is a plus, I suppose. I'm really hoping that I can really shape up my teaching this semester, really thoroughly prepare lessons and explanations, etc. I hope that will cut down on the grumbling, but we'll see.

Last night I took a group of kids to the Uptown Swing Dance in Brookline. There were nine kids, 5 boys and 4 girls, which was a great (and surprising) spread. I was a little nervous about it, since I hadn't been to the Uptown dance before and wasn't sure what to expect. We got there for the beginner lesson, which turned out to be a bit complicated for those new to dance. It was even a bit complicated for me (not that I'm super awesome or anything; it's just that I'm not a beginner and should have a pretty easy time during those lessons). The kids were a bit discouraged by this, but once the dance started, they proceeded to practice with each other. The crowd as definitely on the older side, which was fine, but a little less energetic than I was hoping. For the first bit, the kids only danced with each other, but, to my delight and surprise, as the night went on, they started dancing with other people! It was really cool to see them get comfortable enough to ask complete strangers to do a dance they had only learned an hour ago. Two of the boys even asked me to dance, and they were pretty good! So it seemed like everyone ended up having a great time, myself included. On the ride back, those in my van asked if we could go dancing every weekend. I laughed and said we'd have to see. But I am so happy they had a great time and want to do more! Maybe this is the beginning of a swing club! Who knows?

ciao