Enjoying class too much
I like my students. The longer I teach, the truer this seems to get. I remember terms when there was a class or two I dreaded. But not for a long time.
This year I have a favorite class. A better teacher might not, but I do.
As programmer, I teach 3 classes instead of 5. Well, 3½. And it was a good start. Scheduling was the smoothest ever, which freed me up for concentrating on the entertaining stuff: teaching.
In a small school where things run well, it is a privilege to have a class full of seniors I had as freshmen. It’s fun; I like my senior class. And my freshmen geometry class – they are sweet, and clever, and eager to please.
But I find myself looking forward to my third class, my freshman algebra. I am annoyed on the days we don’t meet. I can’t remember getting off to this kind of start with a new group of kids. Ever.
The class has a range of abilities; it is overall strong, but not my most talented algebra class ever. The kids are nice, but not the nicest I have ever had. They listen, but I’ve had more cooperative classes.
So why do I like them so much? They know how to play, just enough, not too much. After 11 years teaching, I have a niche – playful algebra teacher. So I tease, they tease back a little. I play, they play. But we still work. I get them for a full year. They’ll learn a lot, and I’ll have lots of fun. It doesn’t feel like work.
I feel a little guilty. 
JD2718 
Hi jd,
how many students do you have in each class?
Here in Germany, we have about 33 students in one class.
And do you work as a programmer besides your job as teacher?
Regards,
Edgardo
In the US different districts have different limits on the number of students. In New York City the limit is 34 (in high school).
My classes are smaller than that: 22, 25, 23, (and 31 and 24 for the partial credit classes).
In NYC “programmer” = “scheduler.” I write the master schedule, the schedules for teachers, rooms, and students, and perform other related (and sometimes unrelated) functions. For several years I wrote exam schedules and collected grades and produced report cards. Now I have some help for both of those tasks.
I love my students too! I am fortunate that I have taught virtually all of my students before when they were in 6th grade band. I moved this year to the 7th & 8th grade campus and now get to work with the same kids. It’s beautiful!
I do a lot of acting and playing around and stuff. It’s awesome.