singin' the grade 7 blues
Jun. 5th, 2004 12:36 pmHello friends! I'm still not sure if I'll enjoy baring my soul online, but hey, it's worth a try. It's actually a weird concept, a diary that people not only can read, but are expected to read and even comment on.
I recently made one of those huge, life-changing, thirty-minute committments and joined Curves. After two weeks, I have slightly defined muscles I didn't know existed! So far it's good, but a bit lonely. I didn't join up with anyone, and I don't know anyone who goes there, so the only people I exchange greetings with are the staff who have learned my name. I should sign up my mother-in-law and get her to go with me sometimes. Of course, that begs the question: if she and I are both working out, who's got Elizabeth? Oh well. . . Daddy time it is!
The school year is winding down, and it can't end soon enough. I can't even imagine what I would do in a job where there was no lengthy break and complete emotional down-time periodically every year. How do people manage, working with the same personalities day in, day out for a decade? On the other hand, if I actually enjoyed my teaching assignment, I might feel differently. I don't like grade 7, but always before there have been a few redeeming kids in the class - the ones who are really great kids stuck in a horrible group dynamic. This time there are exactly two kids like that, and one of them has been sick for a week and a half. (Yes, I counted. There are some kids it's really difficult not to make into teachers' pets, and she's one of them.) Most of my class I really don't like. They're sneaky, pessimistic, complaining, spoiled, lazy, and listen to very irritating music. My room was trashed three days after I returned in March. Nothing was destroyed, but papers and books were strewn everywhere. A DVD I had rented for them on Tuesday was stolen before we even watched it. I have it on good authority it was taken and slipped into another kid's binder as a practical joke, and the other kid didn't find it until he went home that night. It was returned Wednesday, shortly after a wet kleenex placed on my chair got one of my little angels suspended for two days. Yesterday we were outside doing a drama lesson, and one of my kids climbed the fence behind the baseball diamond. When I realized what was happening, he was on the horizontal part that overhangs the plate. He also got sent home. What can I do with these kids when I can't even trust them to stay on the ground!?!
I feel better now. Hopefully next year I'll get a better job, at a different school, teaching a subject and grade I enjoy.
I recently made one of those huge, life-changing, thirty-minute committments and joined Curves. After two weeks, I have slightly defined muscles I didn't know existed! So far it's good, but a bit lonely. I didn't join up with anyone, and I don't know anyone who goes there, so the only people I exchange greetings with are the staff who have learned my name. I should sign up my mother-in-law and get her to go with me sometimes. Of course, that begs the question: if she and I are both working out, who's got Elizabeth? Oh well. . . Daddy time it is!
The school year is winding down, and it can't end soon enough. I can't even imagine what I would do in a job where there was no lengthy break and complete emotional down-time periodically every year. How do people manage, working with the same personalities day in, day out for a decade? On the other hand, if I actually enjoyed my teaching assignment, I might feel differently. I don't like grade 7, but always before there have been a few redeeming kids in the class - the ones who are really great kids stuck in a horrible group dynamic. This time there are exactly two kids like that, and one of them has been sick for a week and a half. (Yes, I counted. There are some kids it's really difficult not to make into teachers' pets, and she's one of them.) Most of my class I really don't like. They're sneaky, pessimistic, complaining, spoiled, lazy, and listen to very irritating music. My room was trashed three days after I returned in March. Nothing was destroyed, but papers and books were strewn everywhere. A DVD I had rented for them on Tuesday was stolen before we even watched it. I have it on good authority it was taken and slipped into another kid's binder as a practical joke, and the other kid didn't find it until he went home that night. It was returned Wednesday, shortly after a wet kleenex placed on my chair got one of my little angels suspended for two days. Yesterday we were outside doing a drama lesson, and one of my kids climbed the fence behind the baseball diamond. When I realized what was happening, he was on the horizontal part that overhangs the plate. He also got sent home. What can I do with these kids when I can't even trust them to stay on the ground!?!
I feel better now. Hopefully next year I'll get a better job, at a different school, teaching a subject and grade I enjoy.