The Start of a New Year

It is now 2023! Ever since COVID, the lockdown, and hybrid teaching, my sense of time has been totally thrown off - I feel like I have no memory of a few years there (and will I really be turning 53 this year???). 

As things are returning to "normal" (or as "normal" as things are going to get), I truly enjoyed my holiday season. Some friends of mine finally were able to throw their annual Christmas get-together after a THREE YEAR hiatus, as well as another friend holding her annual New Year's Eve bash (again another THREE YEAR interruption!) Wow, it was so good to see so many friends in person at these parties, many of whom I had not seen since pre-Covid! I also had 2 1/2 weeks off for the holiday break, so I traveled to Florida for a bit and then spent my Christmas in San Diego, visiting my sister and her family (yes, while it was 12 degrees here in Atlanta during that nationwide arctic blast, I was in sunny San Diego where it was 75 degrees on Christmas Day - we went to the beach on that day!).

School started up last week, so now we are back with students. On the one hand, I am definitely trying to get back into routine of teaching (and by now, the novelty of being back has worn off for students), but at the same time, I cannot help but look back and think, "Wow, we have made it through one semester already!" 

A new year and a new semester can be an exciting time. It can be a time to restart many of the things which we implemented back at the beginning of the school year last semester but fell by the wayside. It can be a time to build upon your foundation from last semester and introduce new types of activities/expectations. Last week, my colleague and I surveyed our students, asking them three questions:

1. What are things you enjoyed in Latin class last semester?
   
2. What are things which helped you acquire the language last semester?
3. What are things which you would like to do more of this semester?

Students were very honest in their responses. They could not respond with generic answers as "games and activities," but I asked them for specifics. Interestingly enough, many students responded "timed writes" as something which helped them last semester. Overwhelmingly, my students said, "We want more brain breaks!" (that was something which I unintentionally stopped doing by November).

I hope that you feel refreshed from your holiday break - just one more semester to go!