THEMES
--The Junior Themes have finally been turned in!! WOOP! I wish I could say they've also been graded...but that'd be a big fat lie. (Well, some of them have. CoTeach has been BORED SILLY...so she's graded the papers from the classes we share. LOVE HER!!!)
--On a related note, Novia's Jr. English teacher has appeared on my radar as Someone Who Has Messed With My Kids. She gave them a verrrrrrrry shoddy packet of instructions, has refused to answer questions because "you just need to learn how to read", and expects them to do 90 percent of the work outside of class. I've been helping Novia with it...and lemme tell you, it's all I can do to keep from driving to Novia'sSchool and having a small heart-to-heart with CrankyTeach. "Maybe...JUST maybe...if you would give them a packet that was written clearly -- they'd have a fighting chance. It is simply ridiculous that someone who wants their students to learn how to write clearly, cannot utilize the basic formatting techniques on MSWord to distinguish between segments of the assignment. And, as far as telling her she needs to learn how to read better??? Listen, Heifer. Those questions she asked you that day? Those were from me. I tried to translate your sorryass packet...and those questions were what I told her to ask you to do a perception check. Because your crap was NOT CLEAR. And something is tragically wrong when another teacher in Uberdistrict who has a BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN ENGLISH, a MASTER'S DEGREE IN EDUCATION, and a PRINCIPAL'S CERTIFICATE annnnnnd who teaches the EXACT DAMN COURSE that you do CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT THE HELL YOU WANT!! Who the hell are you to tell students they need to learn how to read better?!?!? Maybe you should TEACH THEM!!"
The funny thing....Buggy told me today, "Miss, you really oughta go over there and tell her how it is. Take her your handouts and show how it should be done."
Ahhhhhh, Buggy. You don't know how dangerously close I've come to that. If she were another teacher in Uberschool, we would have talked long before now. (Because people at Uberschool know they better treat my kiddos fairly...apparently the other teachers in Uberdistrict have not received the memo.) I've even imagined the followup conversation with MyAppraiser about rabble-rousing at another school in Uberdistrict. (And have decided I would probably be okay with signing a "Conference Summary" if one were presented to me. Which I strongly suspect it would not....tempting, so very tempting.)
TESTS
--Today marks Day 3 of our 4-day TAKS Testing Marathon. It hasn't been bad so far....but today is the big day. So it's gonna blow. I've already planned my act of Civil Disobedience in regards to the dress code. I figure if they're going to make my little keister walk all over Uberschool non-stop for 4.5 hours collecting attendance sheets/troubleshooting, etc.....the fact that I'm wearing jeans AND tennis shoes is one they can DEAL WITH. (If nothing else, at least the fact that I'll be a moving target should help.)
--Buggy is taking his THEA test on Saturday. (To you Texas HS-grads from the late-80s, the THEA is the new incarnation of the TASP test.) He was not jazzed when he found out he had to take ANOTHER TEST....but he'll be fine.
TRAVEL
--I'm heading to Houston Saturday for a bridal tea for the sis-to-be. Due to time constraints (and my lack of desire to contribute to any additional fundraising in Midlothian), I've decided to fly. My flight leaves Love at 8 Sat. morning.
Wanna see my list of To-Dos?
-get my ear issues under control so my ears don't explode upon take-off. (I'm still fighting the same damn sinus infection from a month ago.)
-call groomer/boarder about drop-off time for The Fredd. (Although Uncle AggieBro says he wants to meet Freddy...I am POSITIVE he doesn't want to meet him until we have conquered some of the house-pooping neuroses.)
-purchase something to wear to the bridal tea (my dressy clothes DO NOT fit...good problem to have, though)
-take Buggy on a small driving tour to see where his test will be Saturday. (The Bugg is not map-gifted.)
-locate my parking discount for the Love airport.
-select my shower gift...and hope AggieBro is cool with me borrowing his coche to go pick it up in H-town
-figure out what I'm leaving for lesson plans just in case something crazy happens with my flight Sunday evening.
-talk to TrainerDude about my workout on Monday. (I'm volunteering for a district-program and can't be in 2 places at once)
-express undying gratitude to NeighborTeacher and TeacherFriendHellion for covering my class Friday afternoon so I can leave a littttttttle early to go get my roots-did!!
And yes....it is reallydamnearly in the morning that I'm posting this. Freddy was SUPER efficient at waking me up to take him outside to pee. Of course, once we came in...he went straight back to sleep. Me? Not so much. (Reason 845 why I've not given birth to my own children.) Now that I've updated My Public, I'm going to see if I can get another hour & a half of sleep.
~hasta!