They're going to kill me...

My 3rd hour is going to be a handful. . 26 students, 20 of which show up on a regular basis. 10 of which is really strong, boisterous personalities. That means, this is going to be one hell of a quarter. Today, the first day, I thought we were going to go nuts. They just argue and shout nonstop. I am actually trying to get 2 of them removed - I think with those 2 gone, it will be a lot better. It seemed to be those two causing all the tension in the room. Sometimes we just get students that cannot be in a class together - I guess those two happen to be a pair that fits the description. One more class today, and Im done. . and that class shouldnt be that bad. Its just an algebra 1 class- and its just introduction stuff today.. Plus, its small..

I have nothing to say - so Im just going to say hi.... and then get ready for bed.. Yes, I am going to bed early tonight - 10:00pm.. The last few nights I have been having weird dreams which cause me to wake up at weird hours.. I want to make up for the sleep i will miss by waking up now, by going to bed early!! Yay.

p.s. - did this post make any sense? I just reread it, and Im not sure it does. Oh well. thats me for ya!

Its a good feeling when....

your principal comes to you and excitedly tells you that our MAP testing scores in math (for the 2nd test) have gone up dramatically since the beginning of the year (when they took the first test). MAP Testing is testing our students do beginning, middle and end of the year. And think, there are days that I look back at the day or a class and think "did they learn anything today". Its days like that when I wonder if I really should be a teacher. Days when nothing you do seems to get through to the students and you feel nothing but frustration. But, today - today is one of those days that reiterates the fact that Im pretty darn good at what I do. Then I think about the frustration days, and remind myselves that at a "regular" high school, they probably wouldnt even be coming to school at all, much less my class.

Easy, but boring week

This week is going to be one of the easiest weeks I have had in a long time. I only have the students for 2 (maybe 3 days). And, those days, only until 11am. Its finals week - today I have hours 1 and 3.. and then prep time until 3:30.. Tuesday is the same, but with hours 4 and 5.. The good thing about tomorrow is I don't have an hour 5.. So, Ive only got class from 9:50 - 11:00.. and Wednesday students are only here if they have to make up a final for you - which I don't think I will have any... But, who knows.. Thursday and Friday I spend cleaning my room from this quarter, and getting ready for next quarter. Yay.. These easy weeks can be boring though - just because we don't have students and that gives us a lot of "alone" time. We are suppose to use today and tomorrow afternoon for grading, but I took all mine home this weekend and got it all done... Which, in hindsight - I shouldn't have done so that I would have something to do here at work.. Though, I will have a few finals to grade - those that weren't here for the actual final days and have to make it up.. but, I cant imagine its going to take me 2 full days and 3 half days to get ready for next quarter....

What else? On Friday I went to go see Pat McCurdy with Dave, Chris and Laura. He's so hilarious. If you haven't seen him and live anywhere near the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Chicago area. You have got to look him up... He plays within like a 5 or 6 hour radius of Milwaukee (at least that's what it appears), so he gets around pretty adequately...

Alright, enough for now - its off to see what my students are doing..

The worst thing about teaching is...

grading final exams!

I sometimes wonder...

I sometimes wonder where it is that people are from that find themselves reading my blog.. Because I really dont think that Im that interesting.. Then I worry - am I boring the people that are taking time to read it? Should I write more about all the dumb stuff that I do? I dont know. Normally I just write when I feel like rambling.. Normally, it ends up being about absolutely nothing, and sometimes I just summarize some ramdom sarahism that I did. Who knows - I guess that is why its called "nonsensical ramblings".. because most of the time - that is what they are.. If you care to share where you are reading from - that would be great, it would stop me from wondering where everyone is out there.. and if not, then I guess you keep me in suspense.

I made a blooper.....

Alright, so last week I wrote about how i was going to the "Class of 2007" thing that night at the casino with Laura... Well.. that is an interesting story. Laura and I met at the casino at about 6:30 so we could do dinner at the grill and then be at the show at 7:30.. We looked at our watches at 7:25 (we were yapping) and realized we had to get our asses in gear.. So, off we go.. We get to the theater, walk in, and - the place in empty. I look at Laura, she looks at me - we both have that puzzled look on our faces.. I take out the tickets, smile and say "What day is it today?"... Wouldnt you know, we showed up a day early for the show. So, the next night, we proceeded to the concert again, once this time, it was the right date!! The show was amazing.. It was Chris Young, Jimmy Wayne, Sarah Buxton, Ashley Monroe, Jason Michael Carroll and Rushlow Harris. They were all amazing. All the artists sat on the stage at one time, and did one acoustic song at a time.. In between they were goofing around, hitting each other, ribbing each other - just overall having a good time.. My favorites were Jason Michael Carroll and Sarah Buxton. I am definately going to buy those 2 albums ( I already have Chris Youngs) Here are a few pictures of Chris Young, Sarah Buxton and Jason Michael Carroll that I took that night!

I believe George Strait said it best with this song..

"ITS FINALLY FRIDAY

IM FREE AGAIN

I GOT MY MOTOR RUNNING FOR A WILD WEEKEND

ITS FINALLY FRIDAY IM OUT OF CONTROL

FORGET THE WORKING BLUES AND LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL"

Hum.. Well, I dont know about a wild weekend, but I am going to see Chris Young (see the picture), Jimmy Wayne and some others in concert tonight with Laura..

On a side note, I am very ready for this week to be done. Im not sure why, but this week has just been stressing me out - I havent been in a very good mood (thanks Dave for dealing with me when Ive had my not so great moments this week).. Hopefully next week will be better.. I think part of it is that at work we are all ready for this quarter to be over. With all our breaks it lasted 12 weeks - yeah thats a long, long time for these guys... Which means their behavior went down, which makes my patience and positive attitude go down..

Prom - Step 1 - Complete

I have already started planning for prom 2007. It may be 4 months away, but unless we want to pay an absorbant amount, we need to start booking stuff now. I have the DJ all covered. We are going with a company that is $150 less if you book by the end of January. Which, is why we are able to afford them. They should be really good. I am starting to look into the photographer- but I think we will end up using the same one we have in the past. That makes it really simple. I just need to check with Mary, who was "in charge" of prom last year to see if they were booked right away last year, or if I need to call them again for this year. Ahh.. I kind of got designated head of prom this year since she quit.. How lucky of me.. Prom, Student Council, Dance.. Fun, fun..

First day back..

Today was the first day back, and a full moon. The 2 are never a good combination for the students. They were restless after the 11 day break already, not having to add the craziness of the full moon. Its awful to say, but it really does affect their actions and behavior.

Overall, the day went well. We didnt get a whole lot accomplished. We did some review, made up some missing work, did a warm-up. All that good stuff. My computers class probably got the most done - they did an assignment on urban legends - it didnt get done, but mainly because most of the students got caught up reading the various legends.. which is good - at least they were reading, and deciding whether they could really be true or not. The one that really got them, was a 5 1/2 year old in 1935 that gave birth to a baby boy. According the snopes.com (which is a site that determines the validity of urban legends) it is true. Who would have guessed.. They researched it, and found out that it was, and found out how/why it happened. It was good research practice for them as well.

My dance girls have decided to dance tonight. We will see how that goes, last time they danced they made me irriated because they messed around during it. If that happens again - dance will be done.. im not giving up my prep time after school for these girls if they are going to goof around when it comes to performance time. Hopefully, it will all be great tonight!!

Not much to update about...

Alright.. Time for me to write some more. Im not entirely sure how exciting this will be.. But, here goes nothing. I have to finally go back to work tomorrow. Im not entirely looking forward to it - i have enjoyed doing nothing way too much. Though, a few more days and Im sure I would be going out of my mind.

The dogs in the house are driving me crazy. 4 is WAY to many. I dont have to patience for them all. I need to get out of the house, just to get away from them. I think I am taking Rhiley (my sisters dog) back to her on Saturday (probably meet halfway and come back right away). And, Sylvie - who knows how long we will have her.. But, Ill be glad when its just mine and Meghan's dog in the house...

Other than that.. New Years went well. Dave and I ended up going to BBC with Chris, Laura and 2 of Chris' friends. It wasnt packed - there werent 8000 drunk people, and it wasnt entirely smoky... So, overall - it was a good night..

Hum.. what else?? I dont know.. Im going to go and watch some TV... More updates later..