Skip to main content

Coffee and a Nap

I know those two don't seem like they go together, but during the baby years they definitely do.

Two more weeks of school left! Woo Hoo! No more grading stress for two months. Of course, then the onslaught begins with both AP Language and AP Literature. But why worry about that now? The actual final is on Tuesday. Then we'll be watching inspirational movies and doing some kind of artistic life-goal project.

The sophomores completed their game projects for Julius Caesar. On Friday, the groups traded and played another group's game. Most of the games got a thumbs up. Some were more popular than others; usually the ones that had a bit of a challenge to them or a real competitive aspect. Of course, no one would say that another group's game was not very good or didn't have a lot of thought behind it, but they would move on or back to another game. The sight of an empty board probably spoke more than a spoken review.

The living room is starting to look a grown-up's living room. Given that I'm nearly 40, it seemed like it should. I even narrowned down the paint choices to peanut butter or tee-pee brown (kinda like cafe au lait). I think I'll be spending a lot of time this summer doing painting. The baby will still be going to daycare - I really only have a couple of weeks off - so I'll use that time to do the prep and painting. Now just to decide if I should do the kitchen floor or the bathroom...

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

“They Don’t Get It”

I hear that a lot these days. It used to be mostly from various teens trying to negotiate the drama unfolding in their lives as they wandered into that no-man’s land between adult and child. These days it’s from adults trying to navigate the education scene these days. So many people talking and no one listening. The other day I was reading a post by a blogger I’ve been following for several years. Before there was such a thing as “blogging.” We all know spring is IEP review season. This blogger wrote about his daughter’s. Among the various elements, there was the discussion about the state assessment tests. She did not pass. There was discussion about what this means… and why said student needed to pass this test. Would she be taking a modified test? While reading, all I could think about was what would happen to that child as she entered middle school and high school. A history of not passing the assessment test vs. teachers who will now be evaluated on how many students pass t...

Summer Notes

Books to Read: New Kelly Gallagher   Make Just One Change: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions  by Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana  Notes for Art: Group Project for the First Day Expectations from group project exit question

The Cruelest Month

I know T.S. Eliot favored April as the most cruel, but we teachers know that May is… even more so these days. Most importantly, it is the final testing month. National ‘assessments, state ‘assessments’, district ‘assessments’, school ‘assessments’… on and on. It’s impossible to actually get anything done. Toss in graduation activities, planning for the upcoming year and the 2011 bonus, lay-offs and transfers, and you have to wonder if it wouldn’t be better to save money by simply shutting down school entirely except for a few test proctors. Meanwhile, there seems an air of hopelessness permeating the education world. Plans to lay-off thousands are coming to fruition. Schools are being closed, despite protests. Charters are increasing where they can whether they should not. Unions have lost a lot ground and teachers are trying to decide if it’s even worth it any more to continue talking about education . ( not that I blame anyone for that, we all have lives to live ) For myself, I...