19
If it's needed? Easily three hours a day, likely more. Call that 20 hours a week?
August 2011. I...think.
Potions
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Even after seven years at Hogwarts, Isaac still hadn't adjusted to the idea of being in "dungeons". The word just made him feel uncomfortable. Still, he had to admit, they did carry an atmosphere that lent itself well to Potions classes; plus, if anything corrosive spilled down here, it wasn't going to eat a hole through half the castle. Pondering could wait for later, though - he had a class to teach. He glanced at the chalkboard behind him, having written his name and 'gather around the front row', and then back towards the waiting pupils.
"Welcome, students new and old," he started out loud. "My name is Isaac Emory, and I'll be teaching your Potions classes this term." He knew this would be a tough sell - it wasn't the most-liked subject. "You can call me Professor or Mr. Emory. I'm fine with Isaac as well if you're comfortable with it. And before any of you mention it--" Tapping his wand on the chalkboard, the letters changed slightly. "--yes, my name sounds like 'eye sack'. Call me that if you must, but not within earshot - I have a suitable punishment ready."
The introductions were easy; now, he had to interest them in the work. "You've probably all had the chance to get to know each other, so we'll jump right into the lesson." Expecting a groan or two, he hastily added "Nothing too difficult, of course - something nice and simple to get you used to things. We have to let today's potion stand for a while, so you can have that time to yourselves."
Walking over to a large cauldron, Isaac drew his wand and cast a quick charm over the opening. From inside, up floated a little bundle, tied up in a square of cloth. Grabbing it with his free hand, he took a more serious tone. "Today, we'll be brewing a fairly simple potion. It's simply known as 'Cure for Boils' - or 'Boil-Cure Potion' if you prefer. Its effects are, I hope, self-explanatory. However, like most potions, the details of preparation are key - in this case, missing one step will completely reverse the effect." He paused. He'd considered giving himself boils to drive the point home, but he needed to save his good batch in case any accidents happened. He settled for adding "It'll make it REALLY stink, too."
He placed the bundle down on the desk, just in front of the students, and untied the cloth. Inside were a mortar, pestle, and handful of ingredients. "This is all you'll need today. You all have a bundle like this on your desks. For those of you without your textbooks--" A glance around the room confirmed Isaac's suspicions; at least one person had forgotten theirs. "--there are spares at the back, which you can fetch afterwards. Follow along with a friend's for now." He took a deep breath. He really didn't want to make a fool of himself here.
"I'll quickly run through the steps so they stick in your head. First things first, light your fires and add the nettles to the mixture. Hot fire, sharp nettles. Be sensible." He lifted the nettles and motioned to the class, thankfully avoiding stinging himself. "Next, grind up your snake fangs in the mortar..." He lifted up the mortar and showed it around, showing everyone the little teeth inside. "You need to make a fine powder. I don't have time to grind these up, but you get the point - grind the fangs, and pour them in. Then turn the heat up, wave your wand over it, and leave it to stand for 45 minutes."
"Once it's had time to stand, add your horned slugs. All four; if you lose one, spares are at the front." Again demonstrating by lifting the slug, Isaac recalled the great many times he'd misplaced things. "Next, and this IS important, take the cauldron off the fire, and then add the porcupine quills. Then just stir." With that said, he tied up the bundle and dropped it back in the cauldron. "Now back to your desks and get brewing! You'll have plenty of time to goof off when your potions are brewing." Sitting back down at his desk, resisting the urge to put his feet up, Isaac added one last warning: "And no sampling your potions, unless I give you the go-ahead. If any of you do end up covered in boils, I have a good batch to clear it up." He was expecting mistakes, and expecting some people not to listen - all he could do was try to make them behave.
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Homework (15 marks):
Roleplay yourself brewing the potion. Feel free to be creative with how your mixture reacts. You'll be marked on the quality of your writing, not your ability to follow the recipe - as long as you stick to the ingredients I've mentioned, you can do what you like with them. Just don't expect the potion to turn out well if you don't follow those steps.
The word limit is, as ever, 300. I'll deduct a point for every 10 words you fall short of this. I'll also deduct points for not sticking to the above instructions. If you want to godmode me, send me an owl about it - you're fine if I give you the go-ahead.
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Well, including the above as the first (this is a plan for a full term, not the "immediate start" month, of course):
Basics and Boil-Cures // ingredients and preparation of the Boil-Cure potion. Ingredients // various ingredients and their properties. [any two from three of?]
[And two of three of?]
A Few Drops of Truth // Veritaserum, its properties, effects and usage.
Liquid Luck // Felix Felicis, its properties, effects and usage.
Love in a Bottle // Amortentia, its properties, effects and usage.
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[I can't remember the average grading for projects. It's been a while]
Essay:
Choose and discuss three or four potions [a full list can be found here:
http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_potions] that we haven't covered in class this term. Comparisons between them, where suitable, are encouraged. You may consider including some or all of the following:
-Appearance
-Effects
-Uses (known or hypothetical)
-Ingredients, including any notable properties
-Brewing methods
Your minimum word limit is 1000. If you pick your potions wisely this shouldn't be hard to reach. Please keep them below 1500 words, as well.
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To be brief:
-I've been told I'm a very good teacher
-I enjoy marking work
-I like helping people, and enjoy being a part of the setting
-I have plenty of time to spare that I can commit to the job if it's called for
-Whilst I haven't talked about it on this application, I have a good grasp of math should I decide to work that into a lesson
-I'm approachable, and willing to answer any questions or accept and accommodate feedback
-I can see when someone's put effort into something, and be fair with my marks accordingly
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I worked as Prefect here on LA for around six months - it's fairly obvious what that entailed.
I've also run my own forum for a small number of friends - this involved setting up and upholding rules, resolving conflicts between members, managing new users et cetera. Due to the small size it wasn't as involved as it may sound but it certainly gave me a feel for the tasks.
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[I've tried to be specific, but the questions are all vague in their own way - hopefully this is what you were after.]
A student is spamming the forum with links to their website, how do you react?
-Advertising's against the ToS - I'd remove the offending links, and warn the user (or take further action as appropriate were it a repeat or serious case).
A friend of yours is acting inappropriately in chat, what do you do?
-Friend or otherwise, rules are rules. I'd speak with them there and then, advising them to stop - again, if they didn't I'd take further (disciplinary) action. As professor I wouldn't have chat moderation rights so I couldn't kick or ban someone - if I felt that was necessary I'd try to contact someone that did.
What do you do when you know you're going to be away for a long period of time?
-Inform people en masse via an announcement in my lesson, and fellow staffers in the staff forum. If the absence was sufficiently long I'd make arrangements for someone else to post (a) lesson(s) on my behalf.
A new user had posted something that is against the ToS, what do you do? What do you do with their post?
-Speak to the user (likely via owl) linking the ToS and explaining how they've violated it - the tone of this would of course vary depending on the offence. For "lesser" issues like spamming it'd be more of a light-hearted "we don't like this, we say don't do it *here*, please don't do it again" whereas for more serious issues (abuse against other members or staff, for example) it'd be appropriately more serious - "this isn't acceptable on LA. It's against the ToS *here* - if you continue to violate the rules serious action will be taken". As for the user's post, I'd screenshot and upload the evidence then edit/remove the post as to prevent further disruption and offence.
You find out that a fellow staff member is violating the staff rules, what do you do?
-It's hard to say for certain since I don't know what exactly the staff rules are, but if any action needed to be taken I'd consult someone above me - most likely Keith or Simon, since as DHM and HM respectively they'd be in a position to take action.
A student sends you a hate owl, how do you react? What are you actions going to be?
-I'd respond advising them of how the nature of the owl was unacceptable - on the other hand I'd also offer an explanation, alternative or solution to any issues they raised, if appropriate. (e.g. "I hate you, xyz, you gave me a poor mark on the homework" to be responded to with "1) this isn't appropriate. 2) this is why I've marked you down. If you have questions about the work feel free to get in touch") I'd likely be putting them through the PS to do this. As for how I'd react...I don't see how that's different to what actions I'd take? If you mean emotionally, then I wouldn't exactly be pleased but it wouldn't bother me too much.
You find a bug in the system which allows you to get lots of money, what do you do?
-Report the issue at the first opportunity. If someone's around (e.g. Earl, Alexei) I'd mention it to them directly, else I'd raise a ticket. I wouldn't mention it in the bug thread because that would only encourage people to abuse it. I'd probably continue to test and see what conditions caused the bug to occur but I'd send any "illegitimate" money to whoever was dealing with the issue.
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I'm drawing inspiration for this idea from a student on LA I talked to once. I've desperately tried to remember their name, but I can't.
Multiple times, the idea of a "Triwizard Tournament" of sorts has been passed around. There are a number of issues with it, mostly the fact that it wouldn't be inclusive enough. I do think people would enjoy the idea of a large-scale competition, but that's not the way to go about it. My suggestion is this: have students group up into fours (one from each House, preferably) and compete as teams in a number of events. These can range from the usual (RP contests) to the creative (something more like the mask designing contest from Ren Faire) to something different entirely (like the Easter egg hunt was?).
Perhaps have four individual tasks - one each, either to be decided between the teams who does which or events specific to each House, though the former would work best. As well as this, have two or three larger team tasks running over the course of the event. As the staff, we'd score people in each category, and have prizes for each task as well as overall prizes for the tournament winners. The usual - new item, et cetera, and of course a shiny new badge for anyone that takes part.
There's no direct head-to-head competition, everyone can take part, and it'd help with inter-house bonding and whatnot too.I don't know all the details - for example, how long would it be? Two weeks? A month? If it's only one individual task each it can't be too long. And the setting and actual "tasks" themselves would take more work to come up with. But it's a premise...I'm not sure how well this answers the premise, or whether this counts as one event or a collection of them - and I'm sure there are probably obvious issues I've overlooked - but it's the best I can come up with right now.
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There's a little overlap with above, but here goes:
-I enjoy teaching and helping people, and this would allow me to do so more directly
-I like the idea of leaving my mark on LA, and I want to do what I can to help the site
-I want to be able to spend time at Hogwarts after graduation
-Professorship will give me the chance to further develop Isaac as a character
-I planned on graduating at the end of term - I'm ready for adulthood on-site
-Without being specific, there are some elements of being a Prefect I miss - they'll be available again as a professor
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Fri Oct 19, 2012 5:03 am