1. My IB students:

This semester, there were nine students in the graduating IB class.  Last semester, there were four.  You'd think a class of four would be even better than a class of nine; I would have thought so anyway, before I experienced both.  A class of four is actually a bit of a trial, especially when one of them is often late/absent, and one of them regularly poisons the atmosphere. My class of nine was, however, the most enjoyable teaching experience I've had at CEGEP.

International Baccalaureate students tend to be highly motivated, academically skilled, and interesting, well-rounded people.  These 9 people were all those things and more; one of my colleagues described them as "expert students" - students who know exactly how to be students, how to learn and how to grow. When they received grades they weren't happy with, they immediately took responsibility: "Can I talk to you about this so I can do a better job next time?"  When I asked them to present examples from their tests and essays to the class, they regularly chose to present examples they had done POORLY on, so that they could get feedback from me and their peers about how to improve.

What was even more striking, however, was the chemistry between them in the classroom.  They were a diverse bunch, in terms of culture, sexual orientation and temperament, and they had regular disagreements, but they knew HOW to have disagreements.  Their discussions were full of acknowledgments like, "I understand what Marcel is saying, but..." and "Maybe I didn't express that exactly right..."  To see a bunch of 17- to 25-year-olds treat each other with such sincere respect and good humour warmed my heart; I'm getting teary right now just thinking about it.

I'm off to invigilate one of their exams, and I'm looking forward to just sitting there and watching them work.  At the end of this week, when I see them for the very last time, I may very well burst into sobs.

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Wonderful thing #2: Incorrect First Impressions