self-portrait

self portrait meme:
take a picture of yourself right now.
Don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair...just take a picture.
Post that picture with NO editing.
Post these instructions with your picture.

Okay, okay, so I took that last night. I didn't have much time to post last night between trying to relax a little from a very busy week at school and then get back to grading the massive amount of papers left.
But I basically look the same right now. I'm still on my bed, Gabriel's still taking a nap on top of me. He's really into cuddling recently. No matter where I am, he's gotta be there. He's even been sleeping between D and I through the night. This has really upset Jackie because that was our time to cuddle and she's very picky about how she curls up with someone.

Today was all about grading. I graded my ass off. I've gone through 3 classes of introduction letters and have only one more to go (24 more!). These kids do not play around when it comes to turning in work, man. I am not used to that. I also just finished up checking off the Beowulf/Grendel maps and weekly journals for one class and am about half done doing that for a 10th grade class, too. Sweet! It looks like Mrs. P might just get some "me" time this week!
I had some pretty awesome experiences this week at school. I'll hopefully find some time to sit down and tell you about them soon. I'm getting more used to it and the kids are getting more comfortable with me. I still haven't really gotten to know a lot of the other teachers. They're... strange. Very welcoming, but also, not so much. One of the other new-to-the-school teachers just moved back to the US after living in Germany (her husband's in the military) came to see me early on in the week to say that anytime I wanted to talk, vent, share ideas, etc. to come see her. I'll probably take her up on that this upcoming week.
One big thing happened this week (that I was told about 2 days before it happened--ahh!): Back to School Night/Open House. I saw quite a few parents. One of the dads reminded me of Bob D. He had all sorts of questions, elbowed me a little bit about grading, the schedule, etc, and then shook my hand and said "Welcome to NK county!" I asked him, "Was this my initiation?" He seemed to get a kick out of that. Whew.

sitting down for a second

I kept telling myself I should update. To be honest, I haven't felt like it. March was a busy month, and February before that was a lazy month, which means that I was behind in taking care of a few things. Recently, I've had to take care of lots of things around the house, appointments to make, applications to send out, apartments to try and see. To do lists all over the place!
After a month of being incredibly social, I've been enjoying time by myself, trying to get through the 2 books I'm reading right now. Even though I usually dislike being so busy that I don't really have a moment to myself, I really enjoyed March. Seeing Natalie and Amanda gave me the extra boost I needed. Before seeing them, I was really down in the dumps, for numerous reasons. It was so incredibly nice to get to sit and talk with them for a while, to be comfortable and laugh with someone that you've known for longer than a few months or a year. It brings a feeling of "normal" into what's been a completely new environment. In the summer, we're supposed to see a few more friends (one of which I'm going to keep trying to convince to move to Richmond). It will be fantastic to see them in our area, as we're about to move to a new city again.

Beyond all that personal stuff, I had my 11th graders writing porfolios to get though, a play to finish teaching (and I'll have to grade projects on that soon), a novel to start/finish teaching (they're still loving it! YES!), and units and tests to get ready for. My 10th graders have their research paper coming up, which is always such an incredible joy to do. My 11th graders have a project on their novel, a play and their last English SOL coming up in the next 3 weeks. Plus, their ring dance is Friday and that will be my first time chaperoning a dance.
There have been amazing changes in my students. A few kids I've been working on all year have become more focused and started coming to class more often. One of them even stuck up for me when some kid (not even one of my students!) gave me sass when I asked him to watch his language for the nth time. One student who never considered college may go onto duel enroll in high school and community college classes. That is so exciting. One student, Tiffany, recently gave birth to a 9lb little boy named Zane. Cody is due any minute now to have her little girl Emmaline. I gave her 2 of my favorite books. This led Ava, Cody and I to talk about how young they should start reading to their kids and how it affects them in school later on. Ava finally returned after giving birth to her son only to have to take more time out because he got sick. He's okay now and she's shown up for 2 days in a row. I'm so proud of all of them.
We've started two countdowns on my board: days until school ends and days until the reading SOL. Both are exciting to see get lower and lower, but also bum us out a bit. I've been saying to anyone who brings it up that I'm not thinking about it until the end of May.

BTW, if you didn't see "Meeting David Wilson" on MSNBC, try and check it out. It was amazing.

beware the busy month of March!

I don't have much time or much to say. I feel like I've been making constant to do lists and time has been going way too fast.

This week:
-10th graders started Julius Caesar (both a yay and an ugh)
-11th graders took first SOLs and claimed they were easy (we'll see how 'easy' they end up being when those scores come back)
-Laughed quite a bit with students, about a variety of topics.
Including the NEW Funniest Moment Ever, from the always-hilarious Bryan:
11th graders in 5th bell: Cory finished his writing prompt in 5 minutes! He probably wrote 3 sentences and then dipped!
Me: Didn't you know? Cory can do and does everything in 10 seconds. He probably wrote about 5 pages, and you didn't even realize. He's like the Flash!
(once I said this, I knew Bryan-if he was listening-would say something)
Bryan: That's what his girlfriend said, too!

I shared this moment with the teachers at lunch (most of them know Bryan pretty well) and we were still laughing about it today. I totally set myself up for that.


Coming up is the busy month of March:
-Teaching two pieces of literature that are difficult due to dialect/language: Julius Caesar and Their Eyes Were Watching God.
-Going to Richmond for Abigail's birthday this weekend
-Natalie coming to visit next weekend (!!!)
-Going to Philadelphia/Amanda the weekend after, my first weekend of spring break.
-Possibly going to the Richmond rally the last weekend of March

That's a lot. Good thing I've taught Julius Caesar before. I just need to make sure I know what I'm doing with Their Eyes Were Watching God. I've read it-- I'm just not sure what to do with it.