I’ve spent the last 2 hours inputting grades. The joys of teaching, I tell ya.

My students have actually been really good so far. I mean, it’s hard to do any worse than last semester, but this is a significant improvement for me. Maybe coming back next year won’t be so bad.

My boss yelled at me, though. I didn’t do crap, either. He yelled at three other people that same day (that I know of). Driving a bus makes him cranky, but yelling at me is a huge mistake. I mean, it’s a huge mistake in the sense that I’m uber sensitive and will take forever to recover from. I will dislike him for many weeks now. Maybe even months. Grr…

Okay, I’ve got hot tea waiting.

I have to drive to Nashville in lieu of going to work tomorrow and Friday.  Workshop.  I like workshops.  Easing back into student mode makes me happy.

Something feels heavy.

I post so seldom now.  Shame on me.

Let me just say for the record that this has been a crap semester.  My students are generally blah (I know, I know, “Bad teacher!”).  I mean, they just don’t care.  Everything else I can deal with, but apathy has me at my wits’ end.   At this point I’m just trying to make it to Christmas, and then I’ll get a fresh batch.  I have some new ideas, so it should be fun to implement those.  I also know I have a couple of really good kids to look forward to, so yay.

I’m advancing in my quest to cook.  Slowly, but surely.  One day I’ll have it down pat.  I will!

Thanksgiving is coming up, and that mostly means three days off of work.  I plan on getting caught up with my grades and finishing off these grad classes.  I need to look into taking the GRE, too.

I like pens.

The hubby and I are making huge strides in saving up our down payment.  We plan to buy in the late spring / early summer, and it looks like we might be close to 20% down.  Sweet.  No PMI.  Maybe.  We’ve behaved well so far.  Free rent/utilities/everything helps.  My 30+K goes a long way then.

We have tickets to go see Cats in January!  You have no idea how excited I am.  6th row in the tier at TPAC, dead center.  Jellicle cats comes out tonight…

I’m trying to put together a class web page.  As a grad student specializing in instructional tech, it only makes sense.  I found this great tool (quia.com), but it’s $49/year and I’m super cheap.  I have 28 more days to decide.

I am really freaking tired.  Ugh.

We were thinking about getting TiVo, but it’s crazy expensive. Like $20/mo, and you have to sign a contract a la cell phone world. I can wait until we move back into the real world and get moxi again. I love moxi.

The kids were better today, and that made me happy. It’s good to have happy Fridays. Next week is Homecoming, so that’s a guaranteed happy Friday. The yearbook staff is sponsoring Mr. Student Body (male pageant, basically) as usual, so I’m looking forward to that. I missed it last year because I was at a SAT conference in Knoxville. I like the yearbook so much more this year, mostly because the evil seniors graduated and went on their merry ways, leaving me with a dedicated, creative, and hardworking staff. Rock on.

At some point this weekend I have to go to Borders to buy a $10 gift card for the student that won my original myth contest. Am I the coolest teacher ever or what? Can’t do that too much, though. 32K only goes so far, kids.

We read “The Cyclops” from the Odyssey today. They really liked it, I think. And trust me, they show it if they don’t like something. I forgot how funny that story is to read. We’re going to do “The Land of the Dead” and “The Cattle of the Sun God” (or “Lotus Eaters”… can’t remember what I picked), then we’re watching the movie. Great adaptation, I think. Oh! And I got Romeo and Juliet back! I talked to the 10th grade teacher about it today, and she agreed that it was best to switch back, because every time someone transfers in sophopmore year, they’ve already read R&J. So now we’re back on track with the texts and the rest of the state. Cool-e-o.

One day we will be unpacked. That day will be glorious.

I had something to say, and now it’s gone. I hate that.

We watched United 93 last night. Good, good movie, but so freaking sad. They tried so hard. It makes me want to cry again just thinking about it. I remember that morning like it was yesterday (as I’m sure almost everyone does). The whole time we were watching the movie, I was re-living that day as I saw it. It was nice for everyone to not be assholes to each other for those couple of weeks. ::sigh::

The hubby is at work, and I promised I would put my clothes away, so off I go.

Sometimes you look at your profession and wonder, what was I thinking?  It isn’t that I feel unsuited to teaching; that’s not really it at all.  It’s just… well, teaching is not immediately rewarding.  Yes, you have kids who love you, and yes, you see kids making breakthroughs for the first time in their lives.  But you also are continually weighed down by this cloud that is apathy.  Kids who are smart, but don’t care.  Kids who know what respect is, but think disrespect will garner a better laugh.  Kids being kids, and screwing the whole damn thing up.

I look back at when I was in high school, and I don’t recall students acting the way ours do (I say “ours” because this is not a problem that is confined to my classroom — even the vets have their complaints).  Was it the school I went to?  The fact that I was in Honors classes?  No.  Even regular ed was better.  The teachers?  Maybe.  But some of the teachers at my school are quality, and they fair no better.

Maybe it’s one of those things you adjust to.  Over time, you learn to focus on the good rather than the bad, and that tips the scales.  Maybe you wax the shell until it all rolls off of you.

For now, though, it stands at this: kids suck.

I love spending time in bookstores. A couple of days ago we were at BAM, and I looked in the fiction/lit section under G until I found Memoirs, then sat and read two chapters (which happened to be 14 and 15, since it is the same book I’m reading at home). The hubby was flipping through Sport Compact Car or something of the sort, and we just sat next to each other in the big pleathery chairs and read. The only downside was the ridiculously low temperature in the store, which my wonderful husband remedied with a hot white mocha. God bless coffee shops in bookstores. Side note: our Target will soon have a Starbucks in it. They are going to rule the world.

So I love to go there. Books-A-Million is better than Borders, simply because the atmosphere in BAM is a bit more “hey, come sit awhile.” The selection is about the same, so I shoot for comfort. BAM is where I discovered Mental_Floss, which is the best magazine ever. Read it. You’ll see.

…

Week one of work is over. It wasn’t too bad. I think the first day was actually worse than the whole first week. Kids sometimes don’t do well in unstructured environments. Lesson learned. I’m reading this great book right now that a co-worker lent me called When Kids Can’t Read. It has all kinds of strategies for struggling readers, some of which sound really interesting and worth trying. I can’t believe I haven’t heard of them before, considering that, in theory, I am a trained educator who specializes in reading/language. Go figure.

I would like to buy some Chanel No. 5. Not because I’m particular to the scent. I’m not even entirely sure of what it smells like, actually. I just want to have some. Materialism.

It is crazy dark outside.  I hear thunder rumbling off in the distance.  Summer storms are oddly calming.  This weather makes me want to curl up in a corner and finish reading Memoirs of a Geisha, which is fantastic, I might add.  Maybe I’ll run a bath and read in there.  I just washed my hands in hot water, and submerging myself sounds good.

The yearbook is going to be awesome.  Thinking positive.

I wonder if the other fish pick on Bender…

1st. Planning. No home of my own, but lots of open arms. Small schools make me feel loved.

2nd. Good. Big, but good. Very quiet. Had some good laughs toward the end. Will like. I think.

3rd. Yearbook. Yay color! Excited the kids to no end. They are motivated. This makes life easier.

4th. Boo. Will find their noses in busy grammar at some point. Not as big. BUT. They talkatalkatalkatalk. <– Sullivan reference, from my Latin days. At least it’s at the end.

That’s the nutshell version.

The hubby is singing depressing songs on his guitar. Am asking him to switch to something a little more Disney. Sha-la-la-la-la-la don’t be shy…

The kids are back for their first full day tomorrow, and I am underwhelmed. Everything in my room is ready to go, and I’m 10 steps ahead of where I was last year at this point. I found out a couple of days ago that another teacher is floating into my room during my 1st block planning, which f-ing sucks.

(digression: the hubby just dropped some stuff on the floor, and he shouted out, “sphincter!” What the hell?)

The main reason it sucks is that there is no need for these people to be floating in the first place. Two of our science teachers have TWO classrooms (standard and lab, the latter of which is designed to operate as both), and my principal isn’t asking them to consolidate for the sake of these other two teachers. Talk about crap.

So whatever.