Toasty

That is me, after a VERY sunny day out in the ballfields, supervising 300 7th graders, many of whom have the social skills and behavioral tendencies of animals. I heard more group chanting of curse words (since, in a group, it isn't "fair" to snag one kid who is definitely doing it, suspend them), food and water fights, refusal to participate in cleanup of the fields, etc. It wasn't sunny when we went out, and I left the sunscreen inside. Oopsy. And when I did go inside to escort some miscreants, I got drafted to supervise a bathroom break (mind you, the school is empty. The 8th grade had a class picnic off premises, the 6th and 7th grades had field days - - so the only people in the building were administrators and the kids who couldn't behave), I had to write up some sexual harassment (a boy who poked a girl in the ass with his drumstick, a literal drumstick (no clue why he had it, as he only had the one, and he doesn't play the drums), then when she grabbed it away from him, he body slammed her into a corner and pawed her trying to get it back).

Anyhow, so busy that I forgot to pick up my paycheck, even. Money is tight, wife wants to re-do the bathroom while I am away. Our sink is original to the house (built in 1957) and is breaking down. New sink implies new vanity, which implies new fixtures including toilet. We looked at a tub, and that will require re-tiling around the tub, etc. Lots of work. But I did finish my Saturday teaching (money rolling in, god knows when) and volunteered for a professional development on the 29th which pays a stipend.

On the happy front, my friend the art teacher who went psycho is now speaking to me again. I think she was over stressed and I caught her at a bad time with a situation that brought up bad issues. Anyhow, we chatted about Lost (I have theories...they don't sinc with theories on the web, but I am still loving it), and her new job next year at a high school that is twice the size of our place...so 2000 students. It will remove her from some issues in the building, least of which was an overbearing mentor who at one time had her job as art teacher. On the bad side, one less person to chat with. Plus not knowing (I will speak to the principal after school finishes) what subject or grade I will teach next year - whether I stay with Math and maybe move up to Algebra (where it was announced today that 100% of our students who took the Algebra exam scored proficient or advanced!!! And I helped, by preparing those kids years ago) which would require an additional qualifying test, or stay where I am in Math (where we are being told that the curriculum will shift by a year, so 6th grade will be pre-algebra, and all 7th graders will get Algebra), or if I will get a Science placement due to my Australia experience.

Five more days of school. Two of "teaching", two of finals, and one day of "you better not come to school, you rotten kids." Tuesday will be my oldest's 17th birthday. Yikes.

A bright and shiny day

Weather was fine, but not really what I am implying.

Knowing my flight schedule made today a breeze. Things didn't really bother me, and the kids got into their tessellation completions. Twice, during two different classes, the principal popped in the room, and the kids were all engaged, mostly quietly, while I was inventorying textbooks in the back. And this wasn't just busywork, either...many of the kids were showing some great creativity. Big laugh when I coaxed them to tell her about the video we saw about the artist. "Oh yeah...Usher"

My Study Guide for the final exam is completed (which in turn means the final exam is complete, since I will jiggle the order of questions and recalibrate the numbers on all the problems...), and that should take up at least the next 2 days. Tomorrow there is some sort of all-school assembly about gang awareness - we do it every year but it still doesn't stop the gangs from recruiting, nor ignorant students from imitating gang signs (like certain colors, brands of clothes, etc.).

Friday is still the "May Day" field day. Pray for good weather, since god knows what will happen if it is canceled or moved indoors. Unarmed revolt, perhaps.

Fancy Flights

Got the confirmation of flights today. Good news, I leave from Memphis, which means skipping a 3 hour drive on both ends of the trip.

Outbound
June 2
Memphis 1115 -> Dallas 1255
Dallas 1420 -> LAX 1530 Enough time to eat in Dallas, plus 2 hours of earliness by virtue of West Coast
LAX 2230 -> Sydney 0615 Yuck! 7 hour layover in one of my least favorite cities. Not even worth leaving the airport. And I should mention, that is 0615 on June 4!!! International Dateline.
Sydney 0810 -> Perth 1115 Again, plus 2 hours of earliness for West Coast of another continent

All in all a long way to travel, but well worth it. There was some passing mention of hotel stay...probably on the way back as my flight out of Perth is 0545 on June 29.

Only one more Monday to go. Tessellation stretches to tomorrow, as today we had a sub. Which is good (since we didn't have to overload ourselves) and bad (since the kids were pure animals).

Readjustment

Since that 5k race a couple of weekends ago, I had a touch of tendonitis (amateur physician diagnosis) that made walking slightly painful. Not painful enough to limp, but twinges with every step. It would come and go, too, but didn't prevent me from hitting the machines at the Y a couple of times a week.

Well, Saturday morning I had a cough that produced a lower back spasm that was less than pleasant. It was as if my back finally said "enough! you have been walking out of balance for too long and we won't take it anymore!" I had to teach, being the final Saturday session of the Math program (and got to turn in my timesheet for 36 hours at $25 per...not too shabby, with another 18 or so hours this summer, possibly) and be on my feet, but it was slow going. I walked even funnier than normal, lately, and was very careful of bending and lifting.

When I came home I then had to run the girls around for errands (pre-Mother's Day), then finally took a brief nap at about 4. Bad Mistake! I was so stiff I couldn't sit up on the bed, but had to roll to the edge. This morning it was also kind of bad, couldn't really get my shoes on. Now, in the evening, things seem to be in better balance. Knees are not painful, and the back seems stronger, less likely to rebel against my wishes when I want to sit, stand or bend.

Ten more days of classes. The closer the end gets, the longer it seems. Still waiting for that email about my plane tickets, and therefore starting to get nervous. Got a long-ish memo from the principal on the next two weeks - things like collecting books, cleaning out lockers, which class or grade has which field trips on what days. Finals are the week after this, for some reason, though, like mid-terms they are encouraging us to have a test that takes no longer than a class period, when in the past we have had double periods for the exams. I would rather have the longer ones, since my more diligent students take their time. Nothing I like less than having a lower student finish a 50 question test in 10 minutes. I still plan to have them answer 50 questions. If they have to come back a second time to finish, so be it.

Closeout procedures are a joke to me, and always have been. Inventorying the classroom, turning in various things (like gradebooks), entering grades. All of this I do anyhow, nobody needs to pressure me to have it done before the end of classes. Of course, there are some teachers who won't do it, even with prompting and personal reminders.

Confusion

All this week I was under the impression that my team-teacher was going to be out Thursday and Friday. Had my lesson plans all set up, with the expectation that we would be adding 1/3 of his students and 1/3 of a period to the other classes. Yesterday I found out he will be out Friday and Monday, so I shifted things back a day.

Now rumor is there WILL be a sub for him, which means normal classes and normal class lengths. No problem, right? Well the video I planned to show is about an hour, and our class periods are 50 minutes (really closer to 45 with transitions, etc.). I can cope...and tried out some Escher artwork on the kids today, and many were pretty excited. This could be a really fun thing, even with many complaining that they can't draw. Hell, nobody can draw like Escher.

The good news of all this is my plans take me through Monday now. Tues/Wed/Thurs remain, since Friday is "May Day" which is a glorified field day. Administration has stepped up and is coming down harder on students who act the jerk.

Now for the annual pet peeve. This week is dubbed "Teacher Appreciation Week" which means we can feel bad that we are not appreciated. In past years there have been daily treats, some from the administration, others from the Parent/Teacher Organization. They just did something for us during TCAP (and since parents didn't donate, they asked us to pay for a lunch honoring teachers), so no dice now. The media makes a huge hairy deal out of every "made up" holiday like Secretary's Day, Bosses Day, etc. Do I hear anything about Teacher Appreciation Day? no. How about just "Don't be an ass to your teacher" day? Don't Give Your Teacher a Hard Time Day? Not going to happen.

Short time thoughts

As the clock/calendar closes in on the end, every day is a milestone. Even if nothing happens, it is one less in front of me. Today was no exception. For the most part, the lesson went well, and I really heaped on the praise, letting the kids know that at the end of the year they can do this stuff without even thinking about it, and build upon it in a single class, where at the beginning they wouldn't have even tried. Wednesday we build another brick upon the first two.

Tomorrow is a little off-site trip for the class. Looks like 100 or so, out of maybe 108, have paid their money and handed in permission slips. All four teachers as chapperones, plus one grandmother who pops in a lot, helped proctor the TCAP and is generally a favorite of the kids. The kicker is this...of everybody going on the trip, I am the only caucasian. Yay, diversity. I am going to keep a low profile and basically do nothing. The trip is to Funquest, so skating and bowling.

End of the week will be a breeze. I put a hold on a video of MC Escher at the public library, and that will take up an hour for each class on Thursday (the first of two days where we cover for a missing teammate, so 80 minute periods), followed by some explanations of tessellations, both basic and complex, reflective and rotational, then an in-class project for the rest of that day and Friday. If they don't do it - meh. Right now, according to my calculations there are only a couple or four kids in real danger of not passing Math, and missing a project won't really affect their chances.

Still waiting on final word on flight arrangements - already submitted my information - so I don't know if I will be driving to Nashville, or lucky (?) enough to fly from here, but make an additional connection. Nashville --> Los Angles --> Sydney --> Perth, or Memphis --> Dallas --> Los Angeles --> Sydney --> Perth. Oddly enough, the Memphis flight gets in earlier, but it also leaves earlier. The Nashville flight would be a nighter...leaving at 7pm. Once I know more I can make sure I am on the frequent flyer program (might have to reinstate it from my previous traveling life). Less than a month by the calendar now.

Rain rain

Funny, they have been predicting rain all week. It finally hit last night at about 3:30. Lots of lightning, thunder, torrential downpours. And it pretty much rained all through today. Which is also funny, as last night began the Memphis in May MusicFest. Or, as those here call it, Mudfest. Because it, without fail, rains for the three day weekend. Today would have been the day I would have attended (Elvis Costello was the prime performer for me) but I am too old to slog through rain and mud.

Instead got a haircut and took my oldest to Free Comic Book Day, an annual tradition for us. I go to my local store weekly, or used to until I cut WAY back on my comics. Now I might get one in a good week, and many weeks go where I don't buy any. Still, it is fun, and I grabbed up some for my nephew, as there are some kid-friendly things. One is printed on paper that resembles the old comic book paper that turns brown, and it features Nancy! Remember her? Super round head, Sluggo the boyfriend, hair like little squares sticking up from that round head?

T0morrow will be my prep day. Got some papers to grade, also some grades to input. Three weeks down and I have given 2 quizzes and one or two homeworks. Going to be a challenge. More so since one teacher will be out Thursday and Friday, which means we absorb his students and roll the time into our classes. I think I will be finding a decent short video on Escher and we will develop some tessellations over those days. Tuesday is a field trip (double dose of Xanax, thank you very much) to a roller rink/bowling alley. So, in a way the week is short, but challenging.

The week after I expect we will be instructed to collect textbooks (so they can determine which kids don't get report cards until they pay up), which gives the less responsible kids 2 weeks to locate them, with daily reminders. That will make the week a challenge too, although we can and will use a classroom set of books.