what a weird day

check this out:
1) all freeway exits anywhere near my work were blocked off by cops/CHP. it usually takes about 12 minutes to get to school. it took 30 today.
2) the phone repair lady spilled my ENTIRE cup of coffee all over the floor before class.
3) my classrooom is infested with ants and so i had to have my first class in another classroom, which was disorganized and loud. let's just say it sounded like the orchestra was rehearsing right outside the door, which was sort of true. made me really appreciate my portable.
4) meeting 3rd period, so i lost my prep. i still need to pee!!!!
5) 17 kids in my 4th period class. we were supposed to finish an in-class essay but i said forget it, we're just going to do it next week. it's too much work to try to make up. all the kids were in band.
(this is after half of this class being out for a field trip last friday, monday, and tuesday).
we decided (okay, i decided) to have game day instead. kids love playing cards!!

it's almost time for lunch...so i will say adieu

winding down

we really are winding down, but at the same time i can't afford to have that mentality, but at the same time i can't seem to help having that mentality. it's really kind of complicated and also annoying. plus, grades are due for my 8th graders in less than two weeks. i have this class in the afternoon that has some 7th graders in it (at this point, i think there are only five 7th graders in there) so i have to keep teaching them all even after 8th graders' grades are due. i'm not really sure how that's going to go, because i am very low energy about all of this right now.

tons of kids are out for field trips or other activities, and so it ends up meaning that everything gets interrupted all of the time. it's quite annoying, actually. but this is how it is, here, at the end of the school year. and i just have to grit my teeth and get through it.

i just had my kids help put the desks into groups--i kind of missed the groups and i got the sense that we all needed a change of scenery. so i have two of three new seating charts finished and i'm about to do the third. i feel more like a community leader and less like a task-master when desks are in groups. plus, we are entering the time of year when they will be sitting together to do stuff anyways. it makes more sense.

okay--off to watch the Anne Frank movie with my kids. Uh oh--looks like it's almost over. i hope it will go long enough to take up the time today.....

been awhile

wow--just realized that i haven't blogged in awhile. testing happened and i did almost no prep for school for those two weeks, meaning i didn't spend countless hours in front of the computer working, and therefore a few procrastinating also. this blog could really be called "dispatches from middle school; or, why i don't feel like working right now."

anyways, testing is over and we are back to sort-of-real-school. in the next 6 days, there are three field trips, two assemblies, and one district assessment to administer. yeah. then there are four more days of 8th grade, and then grades are due!!!!!!!!!!!!!! insane, eh?

well, i am starting to get REALLY excited about our wedding. we designed our invitations and they will be printed by next week. we are working on our ceremony. everyone is making their plane reservations. we are taste-testing wine (with our dinner). :-)
so you can tell my mind isn't so much on school right now. but overall, a lot of teachers seem to be complaining about their students and mine are pretty much doing the same thing that they've been doing for the whole year, which is being slightly crazy but really great.

okay--well, i actually am doing some work right now, so I should try to get back to it for a little longer. just wanted to check in.

Testing, Day 6

Well....today is day 6 of 8. they have taken english part I, algebra part I, History parts I & II, science part I. Too much testing--and including today's test, there are still three more days of tests. i was in a ridiculously bad mood for a few reasons yesterday. it was altogether unpleasant. i am taking tommorow off to go to the doctor so i think that is helping me feel better. i have had horrible allergies and also a cough for weeks if not months, so i am going to see what my doctor can do for me. probably nothing, right? but oh well. i need a day to rest and maybe she can prescribe something or at least figure out why i'm coughing.

the year is definitely beginning to wind down which is exciting. my kids are still being pretty good. yesterday i had 19 out of 30 kids in my afternoon class. somehow, three kids still got detention and one got sent to the office. (the one who got sent to the office never does anything and apparently he got kicked out of my class, hopefully for the rest of the year). i know, i sound bitter but he is a pretty difficult kid to deal with.

things are pretty good in general. i am really tired of testing so i'll be glad when it's over, but at the same time it means less work and planning for me to do, so it's kind of a trade off. or perhaps a love-hate relationship, you might say.

on another note....sometimes i look at my kids and realize how they are just that--kids. they are awkward, goofy-looking, probably insecure middle schoolers. i see it especially in the girls, but also in the boys. i always think that they look so put together, but i bet they will look back at pictures of themselves from this time and think "ugh, why did i do that with my hair?" or something like that, just the way i look at my middle school pictures and think how ridiculous i looked. :-)

back to testing and keeping an eagle-eye on my students. this afternoon i'll have to pack up my whole classroom and get everything put away so that nothing gets stolen. annoying but oh well--that's what i get for taking a day off.

easier end of the week

so the beginning of the week was a little hectic...and the end of the week is mellower, thank goodness. i get to teach my calm class after testing, instead of my crazy class. let's just say it's like a biiiig breath of fresh air to not have to teach the slightly crazy kids. and i know they are happy to have an approved break!

so my kids are almost halfway finished with testing. they take the first day of their english test tommorow, which i'm a little bit nervous about...but it will be okay. hopefully it will take them longer than the history test has taken these past few days. they were a little bit nutso today. but it was okay. i am testing my period 1&2 class, which is my favorite class but also a slightly hectic class.

i am having a very weird sensation--my hands really hurt. i think it's because i was using paddles (kind of like swim fins, but for your hands) for the first time in like one month yesterday. i'm hoping that's why my hands hurt! otherwise there is something wrong. :-(

so yeah, luckily the week is ending more calmly than it began, plus we are going away to wedding #1 of 6 this weekend. we're camping so it will be chill and outdoorsy and relaxing. it's been sooo great getting away a lot this spring.

well--the school day is over. i think i'm going to start working on materials for next week so that i can truly relax this weekend!