Class was very unpleasant today, due to the heat—a whopping 99°, the morning news predicted. School closed early because some school buildings get dangerously hot in the afternoon sun, but I still had my morning classes, and they were exhausting, for both me and the kids.
Hard to pay attention to sums of infinite series, an admittedly dry subject until the mental framework involved becomes useful in calculus, even in the best of conditions. (Calculus is two years down the road, or more likely never for most of this Algebra 3-4 class.) In sweltering heat, for a seventeen-year-old with twitters to feed and faces to suck, damn near impossible. Even rougher on the teacher who has to compensate for the heat-induced inertia by injecting more enthusiasm of his own.
Tiring as it is, though, I’ll take it over tomorrow. We’re supposed to get thunderstorms late tonight, so tomorrow will be hot and humid. Students feeling beaten down today will be irritable and confrontational tomorrow. Expect several fights in halls and playgrounds. If you think teaching an inert audience is bad, it’s nothing compared to teaching a hostile one.
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