Trying New Things

This week, I'm starting something new with my classes. This seems to happen every year. I'll start the year, things will go pretty well, but I'll find that something is missing, and I go into trying something different.

In composition, the name of the game is conferences. I've split my classes into five equal groups, one group for each day of the week. Each day I'll meet with the people in that day's respective group. Each student will receive feedback specific to their work ethic and ability. Overall, I hope that this cuts down my grade time because I actually talk to each student every week.

In general English, I'm splitting the class into two. One side is made of students who have decided to move ahead and read on their own--basically, those who want to learn. And the other section are those that couldn't give two farts for education. With a co-teacher, one that hopefully shows up on time, we will trade off with the groups and work with them at different paces. This is not going to be as easy as composition, but will hopefully be more beneficial to those who want to learn something.

I didn't sleep too well last night, so I'm pretty tired. I may fall dead tonight..then rise from the dead to live again tomorrow.

50 Hour Week

Parent Teacher conferences are always a real pain. It's not that the parents are so bad. It's not that I don't want to see parents (because I do; way better that talking over the phone). The bane of it all is the extra eight hours I have to put in over the first two days.

I don't know what would make this necessary nuisance any better. Maybe line it up with a break or a long weekend. That would be awesome anyway because so many take a day off anyhow by the end of the week (apparently we have 8 teachers for which they couldn't find subs).

Luckily, my classes remain chill throughout the day and this weekend requires little to nothing of me. I will grade and read, play games, and not have to teach a Sabbath School lesson or preach. Stress should reduce, and life will be peachy.

In other news, I'm getting the itch to write again, but I'm truly distraught about how to go about it. Ideas are coming and going on a week that I can't focus on much of anything. And with my laptop urinated on and my destruction of my mouse for my desktop, I'm not sure how things will come to be (I've even been jotting down things by hand...BY HAND! It's all caveman-ish.).

D.C. Trip Part I

The alarm went off at 3, but I had been awake for most of the night. It was like going to camp when I was a kid: early to bed, can't fall asleep, wake up twice an hour once I finally drift away. I got up and was surprised that I wasn't dead to the world.

I was at the school by 3:45, loaded up some kids and began driving to Omaha. It was silent the entire drive. The students I hauled were unknown to me, so I couldn't drag any info from them. We exited earlier than I normally do, following the caravan of six other cars. The street was closed due to construction and there were no detour signs. We drove for an extra half hour, turning, stopping, complaining, freaking out.

I wanted to get back on the highway, but the exit we took doesn't have an on-ramp to get onto the highway again. The only way I could think of would be to drive back down the highway the opposite direction, but I didn't know how long it would take, and time was slipping away. We finally found the secret passageway through the streets of Omaha that got us to downtown, and I led the folks to the airport from there. We drop kids off with less than half an hour before our flight was to depart.

We got back at almost midnight, leaving me wasted and will probably kill me as I go to Aikido and volleyball tonight. But I must away.