books & end of semester

Ahh, the end of the first semester. I have less D/F students this nine weeks than last, I have two small things left on my to do list, and I have small corrections to make on my exam. What a wonderful feeling.
Today was full of silliness. My 4th period seniors are hilarious and I was trying to think of all the ways I could say crazy things about Macbeth to help them remember information, plot and characters for a test on Act I-III this Friday. We went off on tangents about how The Wire was amazing and another topic I can't remember, but definitely had nothing to do with Macbeth.
One of the best things about teaching is when you get an on-going inside joke in a class or group of students. For example, in my 3rd period senior class, we refer to Fleance, Banquo's son in Macbeth, as either the "F-word" or one specific student yells out his name in a way that sounds like "FleeeeAAAAAAncSSSSSSSSS". A perfect example of the inside joke with students is this: I have a faithful group of students who I spend lunch with. Most of them are in my 5th period (the lunch period), but there are a few that have first lunch, but hate going downstairs to the cafeteria. Usually, we get pretty silly and end up laughing for 5 or 10 minutes straight. It's always the highlight of my day. On Monday, a student I'll refer to as CH asked me a question. CH is like a little brother where we harass each other constantly. For example, he calls me Pippi in class because he found out I hate to be called Pippi Longstocking. Anyway. He asked if I had a blog. I said "yes, it's called 'Mrs. P hates CH' and I post in it every day about all the things you do that I hate." Ever since then, every time he does something during class, I'll say "Dear blog, today CH called me Pippi 5 times. I think my hatred for him has gotten stronger. Love, Mrs. P." Today, he said something nice about another girl in the Lunch Crew, SH, and they all joked about how the blog post will be "Dear blog, CH said something nice about SH today. Maybe we won't kill him after all...."
Oh, and I did the dance to "Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer at lunch today. Ever checked out pandora.com? It's a lifesaver during my super quiet study hall, plan period, or after school time. Today, I typed in "Baby Got Back" because all the students started singing it. "Can't Touch This" was the second song on the "station" (pandora will come up with similar songs to whatever band or song you type in). During 5th period today, the Lunch Crew decided we should keep the music on, but low to see if anyone noticed. Finally, we had to give it up that the music WAS coming from the speakers. We were then treated to a few students singing along and dancing to 90s hits. It was hilarious and I think it actually helped them get their exam reviews done! hah!

So. Over break, David and I went to our favorite book store ever, Kazoo Books. I FINALLY got some dictionaries (for some reason, NONE were provided in my classroom), but I only have 2 full, 1 somewhat full, and 1 barely-there dictionary. I've also started thinking about what books I'd like to add to a classroom library. I finally have enough space to keep textbooks, dictionaries, supplies AND a classroom book collection all in the same classroom, so I think it's time to start it. What I'd like from the three of you that read this (haha, as if 3 people read this, especially since I've been horrible at keeping it updated) are some suggestions that are absolutely necessary for this collection. If you're feeling really into this idea, there's a wonderful section on half.com where you can find books for less than $1. Good books, too. There's no way I'd ever get the district to pay for this, especially now with them cutting everything but teaching/staff positions to make sure they can stay within budget.

i curse you, full moon!

Ugh. Today was more tiring than the usual A day. The kids were more whiny and childish than usual, especially my 11th graders. My 10th graders did pretty good, besides having a more-than-usual surly attitude not caused by the First Test of the Year. I'm glad it's over.
I'm taking Monday off due to a dentist appointment. It's my four class day (well, 3 classes and a Study Hall) and I've felt behind and exhausted. Well, I take that back. This week, I've felt like I'm finally catching up. My first bell did so good today during their test that I finally finished up the first batch of essays from all three 10th grade classes. Yesss! I love having only three 10th grade classes, it makes the essay grading so much easier. Tomorrow should help out in the whole organizing the filing cabinet (I have soooo much paper piled up there, whewww!). Monday will help in getting my head together about what to do next. It seemed like I had an endless to do list and everything that could happen to interrupt finishing things did happen. I hate that.

I had my third dance class this week, but Megan (Senior, haha) joined me! When I registered, I got a "buddy pass" (or whatever cutesy name they called it) that I could give to a friend for a free class. I gave it to Megan, because she said she always wanted to try a dance class. I told her that there was another girl who had no dance class experience in my class, so I invited her along. She did really well and everyone in the class and the teacher told her she should come back! I'm really enjoying having a class again, even if it's not quite as challenging as I expected. This will be useful so I can get my strength, endurance and technique back. Plus, the teacher modifies things for me so I can kinda do my own thing while those without experience learn something easier for them.