Monday, April 7
Who: Sydni and Matt What: New student meets newly rejuvenated teacher Where: Science classroom When: After Advanced Science
It was a wonderful day. It was a wonderful, glorious April day in New England, which meant it was cold and muddy outside, but it was still a wonderful day. Every day since Mikhail had come back was a wonderful day. It was also the first day of classes, and probably not every one of her students appreciated her exceptionally chipper mood.
She flitted about her classes in much the same way she had been flitting about her apartment for the past week. The first day of class was always an intro to her. She designed class guidelines with the students. There was one she always made sure made it into the guidelines, but otherwise, it was up to the students to design their own guidelines. Then she'd explain the topics, and discuss which open-ended questions the class would like to see answered. That was usually tough because, for some reason, a lot of students weren't used to thinking like that. The ones who didn't like science couldn't see how what they did like was influenced by science. Into music? Ok, let's look at the physics of sound waves. It usually got going eventually.
And then she'd ended her classes with a bang. Literally. Feeling this happy made her want to explode things. Or maybe it made her want to take risks. In any case, a small chemistry demonstration gave rise to a small, but impressive explosion.
All in all, it seemed like a good start to the semester. She was cleaning up after her Advanced Science when she noticed a new student hanging around, taking his time packing up to leave. "Ummm.... I know, I know..." Pressing her hand to her forehead, she tried to remember the student's name. "Matt!" she suddenly cried. "Can I help you?"