Road Trip in the Southwest

I woke up yesterday nervous and antsy. I didn't feel like doing anything in the house. I didn't feel like doing anything in town. I didn't want to go and work at the school. I didn't want to go to Mexico. I felt like my skin was crawling.

Only a road trip can cure "antiness."

Sooo, I went to Science Goddess' hometown yesterday. I live waaaay south of that town. In order to go there, I actually have to go through border patrol. For a girl from the "north," this whole border patrol thing is very strange and disconcerting. The Canadians just do not worry us much in the north.

Yesterday, there was a line of cars at the inspection center. I saw all the drivers of the cars in front of me had to give the officers I.D. So I got out my driver's license.

When I got up to the front of the line, the officer was a very false-cheery-Texas-drawl-blond guy with a grin from ear to ear.

"Can I get you to state your nationality mam?!" he singsonged grinned at me.

"US," I choked out smiling in my highest I-am-no-threat voice trying to remember the poor guy is just doing his job.

"Can I ask where you are going, mam?"

I thought for one second of saying "No" just because I'm American and it's really none of the government of Texas or the United States business to know. But, I choked out, "Science Goddess' hometown."

"You live there, mam?" (Border patrol always assume I don't live on the border.)I told him I've lived in my border town for two years. He looked very surprised. He told me to move on and enjoy my day.

Then I realized he didn't check my I.D.

I've gone through this inspection center many times since moving to Texas. After every time I feel ...very strange. If I find it disconcerting, can you imagine how Mexican Americans feel every time they go somewhere? I mean they don't even check my citizenship. They just ask. All those cars in front of me had to prove they were American. And their families probably have been living in that area much longer (at least 200 years) than my English and Czech ancestors have been in America.

And they have to prove that they have the right to drive on the roads of America.

Well, anyway, when I got to Science Goddess' hometown, I still didn't feel like going home. So I continued north. There's a town there with a Walmart about 3 hours from my little border town. (Not a SuperWalmart, just a little one.)

So I went shopping.

I bought my Christmas present. I decided to replace my mp3 with a IPod nano. I like it, but the music I bought for the old mp3 player won't transfer over.

I bought new shoes, a new pillow, and puppy pads. All have to do with the dog. Vada chewed up my good dress shoes two weeks ago. And she has destroyed all the pillows in the house. Well, the puppy pads are self explantory. I think she is getting more destructive now than when she was a puppy.

I call her my little Shiva, after the Indian god of destruction. (That after "Furry Butt" and "Stinky.)

When I got home, I was pleasantly surprized she didn't destroy a single thing. No magazines or books shredded...no curtains on the floor...shoes all in one place....dog food and water still in their respective bowls. Yeah.

Oh wait.

After she got her MacDonalds-reward-good-girl-(cold) cheeseburger, she wanted to make sure I knew that she was there and I should not ever ever go anywhere without her. She tried to sneak off with the IPod and eat it. She tried to attack the invisable kitties outside the window...throwing herself against the living room window. She peed on the floor and wiped her butt on the couch.

I hate to think how she is going to react when I go back to school all day.

I love driving here in West Texas. I never feel scared driving here even though the area is pretty empty....except for the mountains and desert wind.

What I Am Doing On My Winter Vacation

One week of vacation down, one more to go. I really have unit planning for school to do (at least that is what I had planned to do over vacation) but I haven't done any of that. I have:

1. Read Books. I read Blood Ties by Lori Armstrong. The book is set in the Black Hills of South Dakota and is about a lady PI. It was enjoyable for an afternoon. It is the first book of a series, so I guess I have to get the next one.

I began the second book of the Twilight series New Moon by Stephanie Myers. To really be honest, I'm stuck in the second book. I really didn't like the first book. And the second book...well I don't see what the romance is. Am I getting old? Is romance dead in my heart? Edward the vampire is kinda whiny and self absorbed. You think if you lived that long.... you would learn to deal.... And I keep thinking...weren't there other girlfriends in that time??... I'm just saying....?

So I picked up Kings of Infinite Space. Much better!!! If you ever, ever worked in a cubicle environment and were over qualified for that job, this book is for you.

I've also read The Other Boleyn Girl(awesome, I'm kinda in a Tudor phase), Life as We Knew It(disaster story...awesome), and Speak (which I might turn into a unit for my Sophomores).

I still have to read The Little History of the World(suggested by Frumteacher), Jonathon Strange and M. Norris, Peter Ackroyd's biography of Shakespeare, and the second installment of The Looking Glass Wars. For school, I have Socratic Circles to read.

Mentor Teacher told me he'd beat me if he came back and found that I sat in my house all vacation. Well, I really can't read and drive and walk at the same time. I really don't know if I will get through all of them, but I'll have fun trying. ;)

2. My car is legal now, Mom. I forgot to get tags last month. It's weird that the state of Texas will stop me for not wearing my seat belt, but I can drive around for two months with expired tags with no ticket.

3. I got caught up on "Desperate Housewives" (I want to be Bree when I grow up!) and "Dr. Who" (except for the Christmas special only seen in Great Britain :( ) I wanted to get caught up on "Stargate Atlantis" (just who is Teyla's baby's father?), but Sci Fi Channel showed all the first season's episodes on Christmas Eve. Agghh! They will probably run a marathon when I'm back in school. Some science fiction geeks do work during the day. And aren't technologically advanced (or rich enough) for a DVR. And don't think to set the VCR when they get up at 6 am because they are trying to figure out what the kids are doing that day.

And. Oh....

and I was all thrilled and excited that they were going to have a marathon of the original "Stargate" series on Christmas day! Well, none of the episodes had Jack O'Neill. They were all from the last season. Those shows were good, but "Stargate" is all about the Jack O'Neill (in my humble opinion.) As I read somewhere, I am not in love with Richard Dean Anderson. I'm in love with Colonel Jack O'Neill. (Yeah, I know he's not real...but if he was....oh....)

4. I worked a little bit on crocheting and embroidery. Just not enough TV watching and too much reading. I usually do those things while watching TV so I don't feel like I am wasting tons of time. Unfortunately, you can't read and crochet at the same time. (And I don't like audio books....it's easier to read than listen...weird huh?)

5. And all the little things. Reading blogs. Cleaning house. Doing dishes. Taking out trash. Naps. Laundry. Walking the dog. On and on and on.

....And I haven't thought about Puht boy, BIOB, Flirty, 8th period at all. A real vacation. But TAKS is coming up and I have to really start planning the TAKS review unit for my regular Sophomores. And I am going to have the Sophomore AP students read "Jane Eyre" and the Freshmen AP read "The Odyssey." So I guess I need to read those works of literature, too......

....And to help my students with their Social Studies TAKS exam, I want to create a timeline of history in my room. Plus a word wall of all vocabulary they need to know. Plus, I need to make a data wall and post lesson plans in my room. And my bookcase behind my teacher desk kinda needs to be fixed and organized (which will probably take several hours.) And....

Only one week left.

The Last Week of School

1. First things first, the remote control was found. I had to move furniture to find it and it had many new teeth marks. Now every once in a while it goes crazy and all the lights come on and off and won't work for about 15 minutes.

I think Vada is part goat. Right now, she is trying very hard to climb on every piece of furniture to get to the box of Whoppers I put on top of the T.V. It will keep her busy for awhile. That and chewing aluminum cans.

2. I have some weird head cold. It started two Saturdays ago with sharp pains in my ear. For the past two weeks, I have had an earache and stuffy head. My ears are constantly popping.

3. Grading. All our grades had to be in by Friday, December 21 by four p.m. I was very worried that I wouldn't get all the grading done. However, I formulated a plan. The plan was to grade as the students turned in work and not get a sub because of the "weird head cold." Also, I bought "Pirates of the Caribbean" (Ohhh, Johnny Dep!) and "Hairspray" and "Shrek the Third." I told the students I would play their choice as long as they worked on their projects quietly. It worked! I left at 12:15 (school was out at noon) on Friday with all grades in. I don't understand how I was still the last teacher out of the parking lot.

4. The last day did not go by without drama. Friday's test schedule dictated that 5th period would have their semester test and then go listen to the Christmas concert in the gym. Then they would have lunch and leave. Two hours with the students. I can handle that. Except the announcement came down that the kids would have their lunch in our classrooms! I guess so they would not skip out early (or the teachers.)

Our school dismisses students for assemblies by grade. Several of my sophomores are still classified as freshmen. So I don't let them go to assembly with other sophomores. My fifth period was crowding the door as the seniors and juniors were being called after I told them several times to sit. One "freshmen" boy wouldn't sit after I "asked" many times. He told me to "chill."

What! Blink!! Bad words Bad words Oh. No. He. Didn't. I sent him to the hall and I proceded to get in his face.

He wasn't going to listen. He sent *himself* to sit in the office. In other words, he left without permission. At least he went to the office and didn't leave the school.

He had to sit in the office during the assembly. Then he tried to come back to my room for lunch. I very calmly pointed him out to Mentor Teacher and told him I didn't want him in my room because he had been disrespectful. Mentor Teacher turned around and whisked him away.

I can't stand it when students tell me to "chill." This has happened often this year and I wish it would stop. I find it disrespectful.

5. Puht boy failed all three six weeks of this semester. He failed his semester test and six week test. Even after I had called his parents several times. After he scored a 3% on his six week test (I think that takes talent), I talked to the principal about him. The principal checked Puht boy's records and evidently he failed Freshmen English at his last school. So next semester, he will be taking Freshmen English, Sophomore English and Reading. I informed Puht boy of this and he denied he failed English last year and he won't be retaking anything. I guess he will find out that if you don't pass the class, you have to just retake it.

Does he think doing classwork is voluntary? That if he doesn't pass people will just let him graduate because he is a charming young man? How can you not know whether you passed a class or not? What color is the sky in his world?

6. BIOB (Blow It Off Boy) passed the six weeks, but not the semester. He didn't turn in his semester test. He has told me he will be moving next semester. I hope he will be back. I like him, but students like him and Puht boy are frustrating. Flirty failed, too. I just couldn't get her to concentrate and focus (or finish)on classwork.

7. I was going to send Thin Ice Boy to the Other Sophomore English teacher. However, unfortunately, the Other Sophomore English Teacher (OSEP) had the pleasure of having Thin Ice Boy in her classroom for three weeks for Enrichment classes. After school she came to me and said in no uncertain terms that she did not want him in her classroom. She said he was a bully and mean to other students.

Now, OSEP is a saint. She shows grace under pressure with students I would not touch with a ten foot pole. For her to say "no way" says volumes about Thin Ice Boy.

So. after thinking about it for a whole night, I went to the guidance counselor. I told him I decided to keep TIB for another semester. I had decided I couldn't put him in OSEP class. She doesn't want him. I have finally settled my other regular English classes down into a routine and admitting him to those classes would just disrupt them. So, I thought, I would keep him in Pre-AP English where he was a known quality and I have learned to deal with him.

The guidance counselor didn't like this. He wanted him to go to regular English. So, he told me he'd work on it. He went to the principals and asked if they could send TIB to the Alternative School. The principals said yes. Then he asked TIB if he'd like to go to Alternative School. To everyone's surprize, TIB said yes. The details weren't in stone when school got out. I will find out when I go back. But having TIB out of my classroom would be a relief.

Now the third semester of my teaching career is on the books. A teacher that I admire told me that she didn't feel like she really taught *well* until her fifth year of teaching. I still have a long way to go, but I can't imagine doing anything else. As I told my students, the journey is just as important as the destination.

More Things that Happened to Me

1. I can't find the remote control to the T.V. I hope Vada did not eat it. I think she is part goat. Right now, she is chewing on aluminum cans.

2. I accidently sent some girls to the Home Ec room without a pass. The grouchy teacher found them and harassed them. Then he told them that he was going to write them up and get me in trouble too. WTF! Isn't there an unwritten rule that you do not criticize another teacher in front of students? I went to the principal and told him what happened. I told him I didn't appreciate the unprofessional behavior of the grouchy teacher.

3. It's the weekend!!! I can sleep in tomorrow.

4. Yesterday, Puht Boy complained I never help him with his work. So, today, I got two student desks and put them side by side. I told him to sit in one and I sat in the other. I made him work the entire period. He did not like the arrangement. Oh, Evil Laugh Evil Laugh.

Blow It Off Boy Part Deux (or why I want to bang my head against something very hard)

Guess what?! Blow It Off Boy (BIOB) tried to blow off his test again. I had to go find him after school and "herd" him practically kicking and screaming to my classroom. We "discussed" very loudly the fact that I care if he passes English 2 more than he did. Also, I was so angry that I stomped my foot down and actually sprained my calf muscle. It still hurts 24 hours later.

I gave BIOB the test and he took it. In the middle of the test, I caught him looking at me and I giggled. Then he laughed. I asked, "Are we done yelling at each other?" He said "I only have a little part left." In about 20 minutes, he was done and I made him stay while I graded it.

He scored a 90%. Arrrrrgggghhhh!!!!

What To Do When They Won't Do Their Work?

Clix asked me in her comment on the previous post, "What do you do when they WON'T work?" Not that they can't, they just won't do anything.

I'm only a second year teacher. However, right away last year I learned that if I don't stay on my students' "rears" they won't do anything. I learned that this is 90% of my job. I harass them to do their work. To the point I think it is borderline illegal. I tease, become sarcastic, plead, beg, lie, cheat.... I even stood in the doorway one time to prevent a student from leaving my classroom without doing his work.

Sometimes the students try to blame me for the lack of work done. I hear all the excuses: I give too much work. They don't understand it. I send them to spend too much time in the hall when they misbehave. (Thin ice boy used this one last week.) They didn't know there was an assignment. (It's on the board, website, and I stated the work five times during class.)

Oh, and the big one: It's boring.

Oh, motivation. How do I explain to them that not everything in their lives is going to be a rip roaring blockbuster with blood and guts? Not everything is going to be exciting. They don't realize that in real grown up life they have to do things because they have to be done. Not because you want to do the tasks, but because you have to. Like changing a baby's diaper, being nice to people because you want to keep your job, paying bills....

I struggle with motivating them. Especially making them see the relevance of what we are studying. However, I do feel that much of their motivation should come from within. Not from me, their mother, or the principal.

Case in point, one of my lovely boys from 8th period decided to blow off the benchmark test. He pressed random letters for the multiple choice. He didn't bother to even attempt the writing portion. This is his six weeks test. When the principal showed me the empty pages of his writing exam, I marched directly to the Call Lady. I asked her to call his mother and tell her he will have to stay after school for two hours this week to make up the exam. And he needs to turn in his classwork. Call Lady got it done in ten minutes. (She rocks!) Mother wants a list of missed classwork to go home with Blow Off Boy. Mother says she will sit with son tonight and make sure he gets work done. And he can stay after school tomorrow to make up the exam. I got the work together, found where Blow Off Boy was, and gave him the packet of work. I informed him that Mother knew what happened, he would be retaking his six week test, and Mother is expecting this packet. His eyes got wide (so Oscar worthy) and said "It was a six week test?!" I told him not to even start. It was written on the board and I told my students every day last week that this was his six week test.

Principal and I could not motivate him. Maybe Mother can.

Again, I just stay on their cases until they do the work. It feels like I am spinning my wheels and they hate me. But the only way they are going to learn to read and write is by reading and writing. If they don't do reading and writing, their skills are never going to improve.

So harassing students is 90% of my job. Hence the development of the evil laugh.

Another Monday

We had benchmark testing today to see how the students will do on the state exams coming up. You would think it would be an easy day. This was my day.

1. Drove to school. Realized the car was making a weird thump, thump, thump noise. Check tires when I arrive to school. The back tire is flat. Hope by noon the tire will magically inflate.

2. Get a roomful of my loudest, most obnoxious students. It's like the the names between C-G are just born to be loud. I tried to seat students where they would be less obnoxious. But that's hard when they are ALL obnoxious.

3. In Texas, all staff and students say the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States and Texas, plus a moment of silence. One student sat during the moment of silence. This was the student who is on two week notice to get kicked out of my class. I told him to stand. He decided that he needed to educate me that it is a religious thing and he didn't have to stand--during the moment of silence. He wanted to continue to argue the point after the moment of silence. To me, it is a respect thing, not a religious thing. I have to pledge to Texas. I don't understand why he can't stand and respect people's beliefs.

Plus don't argue with me when you are already on thin ice with me.

4. One of sophomores wants to move up to AP English. I taught her last year and think she can handle it. Her English teacher this year doesn't think she can. The sophomore asked me for the 5th time in the past 2 months if I am going to move her to my class after Christmas. I told her that her teacher has to talk to me.

5. The students have had at least 10 of these assessments since they have started high school. You would think that they would remember how to sign on to their computer to get into the test.

6. Corrected essays. Some teacher in my AP students lives has taught them to ask 10 questions per essay. Which reading makes their audience (me) very crabby. They are supposed to be answering MY questions.

7. The kids begged to listen to music during the test. So, I spent the next hour telling kids to turn down music that I could hear through headphones. Plus, I had to loan out all my headphones. One went to thin ice boy.

8. Lunch was chili dogs. Of course I got some chili on my shirt.

9. I went out and checked my tire. Nope, no miracle. Still flat. Two weeks ago, I bought the front two tires. Now, I called to order the back two tires. Miracle, they had already ordered it. AND they came and picked up the car themselves.

10. Keys. I wrote a note for the school secretary to give my car keys to the mechanic. The principal intercepted me and took my keys and the note. She did not look happy about something.

11. Afternoon went better except these kids do not know how to behave during a test. They are talking to each other during the test. I sent one very social young man into the hall. He did not like it and behaved himself when he came back.

12. I walked home after school. Vada the dog now has a taste for the remote control. Any chance she gets she is chewing on it. It has a ton of teeth marks on it now. Also, she has a strange attraction to socks. Especially when my feet are in it. She bites to get the socks off.

Well, how was that? What did YOU do today? What did we learn from this day?

(See, that's how they write. It's annoying, right?)

Update Part 2

I forgot things:

1. Our school hired a great lady to call parents. Anytime. For whatever reasons teachers want them called. And...she speaks Spanish and English. This is the coolest thing.

2. I think I upset one of my favorite students by calling her mother. Even though this student is one of my favorite students, she is still failing my class because she flirts all the way through my class and never focuses on actual English work. I had the handy call lady (see number 1) call her mother on Friday. I had her tell her that I could see my flirty student grow, but she still needs to focus in class. (I did not mention the flirting.) I warned Flirty before she went home that I called. (Well, actually the Call Lady did.)(I will have to think of another name for her. That doesn't sound right.) Flirty did not talk to me for the rest of the period. Well, at least, she worked on classwork.

3. I have a tough time with cheating this year. Copying other people's work, copying and pasting from the internet, looking at other student's test papers during the test...on and on.... I even had a student go and get another student's paper out of my inbox and start copying!!!! Right. In. Front. Of. Me. OMG!!!

4. I have decided I will not teach junior AP next year. No way, Jose!!! First of all, it's stressful enough being responsiable for the school's AYP score by teaching sophomores. Add an AP exam! No!! No!! No!! I don't have enough of a life the way it is.

Second, the sophomore AP class I teach this year is so rough!!! They whine about doing any work. They complain I give too much work. Then they complain to the teacher they had last year and he agrees with them. This teacher is famous Mentor Teacher. Argggh! I think that they have always been in classes where they: A.) Did not have to work because they were so far above their peers. All they had to do is coast through with little effort. And B.) Their previous teachers did not demand much of them because the teacher was concerned with passing the state test. We know these kids will pass the state test. So the teacher concentrated on getting the lower kids on passing and these "smarter" kids had to do nothing. Now I am trying to get them to work and they do not see the point and think I am just a "hard" and "mean" teacher.

However, the sad thing is, I have heard so much whining that now the whining is not even registering in my brain. So if they have a legitamite gripe, I am not even going to care.

5. Laptops. OMG!!! What a great thing and a horrible thing!! All our students have school issued laptops. They all got them at the beginning of the year. With no cost. The school went through a Halo crisis and a chatroom crisis. Whenever they are to work alone, they want to listen to the music stored on their computer. And they are putting so much music and movies on their laptops, the laptops other software is moving pretty slow. I have already mentioned the copying and pasting issue.

However, students can email me their assignments. They can use word processing. My freshmen class is creating a wiki. All my assignments are listed on my class website. They can do power points, desktop publishing, and webquests without going to the computer lab.

Then they had to pay insurance for their laptop ($50) by Thanksgiving. Over two thirds of my students lost their laptops. All my handouts and assignments are on the internet. ARgggHHH!! By now, the majority of the students have them back. But what do I do with the rest. One of my students is forbidden by the administration to be on the internet at the school. (I don't know what he did, but it was BAD.) So I have to come up with alternative assignments for all those students. I can't penalize the students that don't have the laptop for not being able to pay the $50. (There is a scholarship program to pay for these students. However, the students are not taking advantage of it.)

6. I swear to God I am the only teacher actually using blogs, wikis, and other internet based technology at my school. This is what I would like to see staff development in. Staff received an email stating they are going to offer staff development in Excel. Did we consider ourselves advanced or beginning? I learned Excel 15 years ago. I took a whole class in it. And if I have questions about it, I can look up the answer or figure it out on my own. I wish our school would get beyond thinking that Microsoft software is the only thing you can do with computers. All our students have laptops....can we go beyond Microsoft, please?

7. We are supposed to be a "systems based" "data driven" school. We have consultants come in and make sure we have data, mission statements, and goals posted in our room. The consultant came to my room... during class ...when I had students...which kinda upset me. I didn't have much posted in my room. I told her I had it all posted on my website which the students view daily. Then after she left, I updated my website quickly. (Insert evil laugh.) Evidently, she bragged on me for a long time to the superintendent and technology coordinator that I was a great example of how we could incorporate technology and the laptops in our classroom. (Insert another evil laugh.)

Finally, It Works and Thirteen Things

My home internet went down for almost a month. I could keep up with every one's blog at school with Google Reader. However, I was not able to comment or make any posts myself. Many things are happening at our little school. Here are some of them:

1. My mentor teacher called me "self-absorbed" when I complained that I was overwhelmed. I don't think he knows what that term means. I think he meant that I was dedicated and very focused on my job...to the point that I put to much "pressure" on myself. I don't really know what to think of this. I do know I hate it when people say they have you "all figured out." He doesn't. I still like him. However, whenever he sees me in the hall and asks me how I am, I laugh and say "very self-absorbed."

2. Someone at school stole my new mp3 player.

3. I had two parent conferences this last week. Both for students in the pre-AP classes. I am seriously considering kicking out one student. He never turns in work on time, is constantly disruptive, and has been caught cheating. I printed out his progress reports for his grandparents and explained he has not turned in half the assignments, even after I gave them three days to do the assignments in class. I told them and wrote on the report that he would not be able to make the work up. (Not because I am mean and don't want him to learn. I have given him extensions on literally every assignment I have assigned this year. Way more second chances than other students.) Guess what he gave me the next day. The freakin papers!!!! We had a nice little meeting with the guidance counselor and "nicely" informed him that if his attitude did not improve in the next two weeks, he's out.

4. The other parent meeting was with a young woman's mother who talks constantly in my class (even to herself if no one else is available) and her work was not up to my standards. The young woman is a sophomore and has been on the varsity basketball team for the last two years. I have her younger sister as a freshman right now. The younger sister is a lovely, well behaved, very smart young lady. I have given the older sister detention after school (which makes her miss basketball practice) three times for talking and talking back to me. The last time she came in for detention she sat down and demanded I give her candy. And then she just walked out of detention when "she" felt it should end.

At first, the mother was on the defensive and insinuated I didn't like her daughter and was out to get her. Also, she insisted that her older daughter was naturally smart and did not need to work hard in any class. The older daughter was told that she would succeed in everything in matter what because she will just do it. Her younger daughter was not naturally smart and had to work hard for her grades. I defended the younger daughter. In my opinion, the younger daughter is smarter. Her work ethic and the fact that she is willing to try to learn new things I think will get her farther in life. When the older daughter is faced with something that is hard for her, she dismisses it as something not worth her time doing.

The mother agreed to talk to the daughter about her talking and attitude in my class. The mother may think I am an idiot, but in this area children do not take attitude with adults. I am thankful for that.

5. I am glad my attitude that hard work not intelligence is a factor in succeeding in school was backed up by this article in Scientific American. (Click here) Thanks Science Goddess! (Click here) I have been seriously considering doing a major overhaul of my grading policy over to a standard based mastery oriented system. My 8th period class is still in trouble. The classroom management issues are better, but their skills are still poor. I doubt, at this point, that 4 out of the 10 students can pass the state exam. I struggle with them getting classwork and homework done.

I am seriously considering telling them "grades smades" and telling them for the next six weeks they have to show me they have mastered the standards. The grades get in the way of the progress. Some are so concerned about the grades, that they will cheat or do anything to pass. Some are so apathetic about the grades, they sit in class and stare into space rather than do any work. Even with me getting on their case. I know this paragraph is all over the place. I am still trying to work it all out. Help!!!

6. I had a kid bring in hot Cheetos to class. I ordinarily don't care if they bring in food, but they have to ask permission first. Plus, everyone in the class wanted some and that was being distracting to a class that needed to concentrate and get work done. I took them away. The kid told me that if he didn't get to eat, he wasn't going to work. WTF!!! The first time this year I actually sent a kid to the office.

7. I missed the whole argument about giving zeros. I give zeros. They serve as reminders to get your frickin work done. I don't give grades, you earn them.

However, I don't really understand the whole mathematical problem with them. Yeah, I understand a 50 and 0 are both Fs. (Another long talk with the master mentor teacher.) But the student who did no work did not do half the work. Why should they get a 50?

I have to think about this one some more.

8. My late work policy is out the window. I had a policy of no late work. It was a zero. Now, it's "Do it, no matter what. And if the work is not good, you can raise your grade by redoing it. I just what you to practice.." I do get work at the minute before grades are due. I don't like it. I feel like I am being soft.

9. I know this is going to bite me in the butt. The newspaper paper students came in to ask me if I had only special talents. I was busy and perturbed that they were bothering me. So I said flippantly, "Giving a lot of hard work, being evil, and my evil laugh."

10. I had a flat tire and had to buy two new tires. Evidently my car takes a very rare type of tire. It was expensive.

11. Like California Teacher Guy, my kids are always ask for free time. In their words, they want a party. We do not have time for parties. Anytime I praise anything they do, they demand a "party" day. I want to run out the building pulling out all my hair.

12. I loved the blog entry (Click Here) on kids who smile when they get in trouble. All my students do this and it drives me crazy. Then I realized I do it too!!! I would love more information on this.

13. O.K., it's 2 in the morning and you are in a sound sleep. Something bounces off your head and you wake up. You lay there for a moment wondering "What the hell?" Then it happens again. You look over and the dog is sitting on the bed looking at you and then the ball she just hit you in the head with. How do I tell my year old dog that we do not play ball at 2 am? But, she is getting good at "throwing" the ball at my head. :)