InsaneJournal

welsh_shadow (welsh_shadow) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-10-08 18:20:00

Will was spending the week on teacher observation, it had been a suggestion from the careers advisor who was having to speak to all third year students who had no idea what they were going to do when they finished university. Will wasn’t sure he saw himself as a teacher but had considered taking the classes in his fourth year anyway just as a backup.

So here he was, listening to Miss Clara Oswald as she finished up her lesson. She was a pretty nice girl so far and Will wasn’t going to mind being her shadow for a week.

As annoyed as she was about not being able to do her module on the implications of the stories read as children and how they paint themes of growing up by looking at The Chronicles of Narnia and Peter Pan, or more modern avenues of telling stories, Clara didn’t let it get her too bothered. She still had classes to teach and minds to inspire while trying to keep from overwhelming her students who had a lot on their plates already while meeting the criteria for the classes.

Nor did she mind that she was being shadowed. While she wouldn’t have minded teaching in university, she did do well in the high school setting and tried to make sure that her students would be prepared for what they would meet in the real world. Two cousins-turned-Doctor as university professors helped her know what the US University system was like for that particular endeavour.

“Remember, your rough drafts will be due on Friday.” Students packed and out the door as the bell rang, Clara let out a breath and went to her desk. She had a free period now and had free-writes to go over. Usually. Looking over to Will, she grinned some.

“So, how’s the first day gone so far then?”

Will had thought that the idea was a rather good one but then he also knew that a lot of schools simply followed the set curriculum and shied away from new ideas. Which was a shame.

Will grinned back, “It’s been enlightening” he told her, “You handle them all pretty well, I’m not sure this age group would be my first choice” he admitted, “But you’re way more fun than my high school teachers”

It was easier to follow a set curriculum and ignore new ideas because then they opened themselves up to parents complaining and running risk of their funding because of the idiotic use of test scores to determine how much money a school district got. Even if the idea would broaden the way things were typically thought of and let them see things differently.

Amused, Clara gave a slight nod of her head, “Enlightening. That’s a new one.” She wasn’t surprised that it wasn’t a first choice age group. That tended to be the reaction she got when she said what level she taught. “I try. It helps that these are students who are more motivated being in an advanced course.” Which then came with its own burdens and stress. “I’m glad to hear that, though.”

Will winked, he liked being different and in truth it had been enlightening, he hadn’t really known what to expect especially since schools in the UK were pretty different in their set up. “Well it helps that you’re pretty hot too” he told her, “I imagine that motivates a few students”

Clara still found herself struggling with the differences in the teaching aspect just because of those differences. She hadn’t been in the States a year yet, but it at least seemed she was doing well enough to have her job still with no complaints. “Oh is that so?” Clara just smirked then shrugged nonchalantly. “I suppose if it helps then, I can’t complain.”

Chuckling Will nodded, “If it works it works right?” yes Clara would soon realise that Will was a massive flirt but he was harmless. He was in a committed relationship so it really was just the way he was. “So how did you end up teaching here?” he asked curiously.

Clara had no qualms with that. She tended to be a more lowkey flirt as herself. The Oswin dreams sometimes made her more flirtatious but for now, it was nothing beyond harmless. Especially since it was just them. “Precisely.” And then the question of how she ended up teaching here. Simple answer? “The teacher who usually teaches this course went on maternity leave. Turns out her cousin was the head teacher where I taught back home. Got a call, decided to take the opportunity.” Longer answer was she’d been running from heartbreak and death. But that was something only her family knew.

“Pretty big move for a job” Will commented, “Not that I can talk, I did the same thing with university switching my degree out here on a whim” Or rather to get away from the guilt of his sister’s death and his father’s insistence he become a teacher. Ironic since it looked like he may go down that route anyway. “Not something I’ve regretted yet though”

“What can I say, I have a horrid case of wanderlust.” Exasperated by the dreams and the fact that she was able to travel not just to different countries and cities, but also planets and time periods. Really, how could anyone fall back to staying in one place after that? She might be better at doing it than some, but that didn’t mean the desire to travel wasn’t still there. “Well that’s the important thing. Not regretting it.”

Will grinned, “Leaving a string of broken hearts in your wake I’m sure” he joked, thinking of the sad children left behind when her job contract ended. “Life is too short for regrets, you have to live your life how you want to and enjoy everything” he’d learnt that from pretty much every book he’d ever read.

“Clearly I’m just a regular heart breaker.” Not that she actually believed that, but it was still just joking around and the like. So harm there. Besides, students moved through each year and then they were at university and having to deal with those professors. “Exactly. We spend all our time on regrets, we forget to actually live.”

“Absolutely” Will agreed, a fair few teenagers probably did fancy themselves in love with her. It was bound to happen but that was just what happened when you had attractive teachers. “That is exactly it” he nodded, “Clara, I think we are going to get along very well. Which is rather good since we’re stuck together for the rest of the week”

“I do believe you are correct.” They seemed to have a good rapport, which was important. Spending a week with someone you didn’t get along with for a work or school thing? Definitely made it tedious and could have adverse effects.