Middle School Teachers Take A Lot Of Days Off

That's why I'm here so much. As I type this, a group of seventh grade students are taking their Language Arts benchmark tests. Ah, standardization in all its splendor...

 

They walked in and several of the students remembered me from the last benchmark I gave them, which was in a certain Social Studies class, and proclaimed, "Pain is weakness leaving the body!"

 

We joked around a bit and there were a few class clowns who tried to test me in a battle of wits, but enjoyed being ever so slightly humiliated in the process. One of them cried, "You're evil!" and they all laughed when I giggled and nodded. It's nice to have my reputation preceed me. : )

 

Anyway, this morning I went to a private school in a neighboring county where a friend of mine teaches second grade and also runs a yoga club. Part of my children's yoga teaching certification is that I have to observe and assist for a certain number of hours in a yoga class, and then volunteer a few classes. So I got to watch cute kids do yoga and then come give a benchmark exam. A decent day if you ask me. Especially since I found a HUGE strawberry among the remains of some sort of luncheon in one of the teachers' lounges. And promptly ate it. Yummm...

 

I'm excited because Up just came out today and I will be going to see it this weekend. Hooray for Pixar! Here's hoping they crawl out from under Disney's cloven hoof some time soon.

Big, Burly Nuns

These middle schoolers' behavior is APPALLING. My kids will go to Catholic school and be taught by burly, intimidating nuns. Anything to ensure that they don't turn out like these vermin. I mean, I went to public school and all, but I don't remember behaving this rudely. Even when there was a sub. CONSTANT. TALKING. Answering back. Making faces. Outright disobedience. The grotesque cadence of their virtually illiterate speech. Their foul odor. My only youthful rebellion was that of an intellectual sort, and that was mostly just confined to English class debates and rare class skipping during my senior year of high school. Nothing like this.

 

I mean there comes a point when even the opposable thumbs don't seem to separate them from the animals. Good lord. I'd take a room full of bunnies over this any day.

Holy Field Trip, Batman!

So I show up to my usual middle school for what I presume will be a boring-at-best day of 8th grade science. It turns out I'm going along on a field trip to Goucher College to watch a theater performance of some of the works of Edgar Allen Poe! I'm getting paid to go to the theater. I think I may be able to handle that.

Note: The performances ended up being so boring, and they weren't all Edgar Allen Poe. The one of "The Monkey's Paw" was ok. But I slept through the rest, so again, it was worth it to get paid for sleeping through lame theater. : )

This May Be Sad, But I Love That Someone Is Keeping Track Of It.

Rome may be burning, but by gods, we're not gone yet!

 

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/movies.ap.org/39wizard-oz39-munchkin-mickey-carroll-dies-89-ap