I don’t know why, but I am finding it rather difficult to get ahead of my students. There’s something to be said for teaching lower level students. You present the information and reinforce. There is usually not time to take them to a whole new level. Right or wrong, that is the reality. Teaching upper level students, I am finding myself more challenged than ever. So why am I whining? IT’S HARD! Several years ago the theme of a workshop was teach smarter, not harder. I haven’t figured it out yet. Grading is a B and let’s not even talk about how far behind I am on that. I keep hoping that it will get better as we get into a period of history that I enjoy. I’m feeling intimidated by the level of teaching I have to rise to. It’s good for me and I am achieving greater depth of education, but there are certain aspects I do not like. I know that one class is going to challenge me on some fact or event and I’m just not interested in their “know it all and show you how much I know” mentality. Not all of them…just two or three students. The rest are actually pretty wonderful.

and it was a rough game…but still a win.

It is only at new school that a teacher can walk in, not be able to say a word that isn’t croaked, and still conduct class as if they had full vocal control. Un-freakin-believable. I love this place. For the first four periods I couldn’t talk above a whisper. The longer I didn’t speak the better I sounded when I did. Despite the lack of speaking ability the day went really well and I don’t feel as if it was wasted. Students worked in groups, completed their assignments and continued discussing the necessary information. Don’t get me wrong, all of the classes were not awesome. The last of the day was a little more of a challenge than the rest, but still not what I have had in years past.

Again I say, I love this place.

Welcome to the sounds of our house. Everyone is either hacking and sputtering or groaning from pain. The girls have been coughing for a few days, nothing major…just a little morning sinus crud. I have had a little throat tingle when I talk too much and a tiny bit of morning sinus ick. Today my morning sinus ick didn’t go away. Jem is worse than the rest of us, but no sinus ick. After suffering from a major headache for several day he gave in and went to the doc. There was a knot above his eye that came up the same day so it helped urge him to the doc. Doc treated him for tension headache Friday but there has been NO improvement over the weekend and the knot is bothering him more than anything. Mr. burning-piercing-throbbing-pain on the left side of his head was persuaded to go back to the doc today. He is now being treated for shingles. I hope it helps because he is suffering something awful. I am also hoping that I do not end up with chicken pox. Never had them and apparently those who haven’t had cp can get them from someone who is suffering from shingles. Oh. joy. please no. I don’t have time to be sick…I also don’t have time to blog. New School is my life. Love it…but e-x-h-a-u-s-t-e-d.

We spent Saturday afternoon Uptown and really enjoyed the adventure. First, me driving anywhere here is an adventure. I spend most of the time lost. So many streets have the same name and it may or may not continue its name for the duration of travel! I mentioned last year that I was very excited that Jem was taking me to the beach and to see the Pompeii exhibit at the Exploreum in Mobile. (That post here.) If you are not familiar with the Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii story then check out where I was “counting the days” and offered a little history.

The Pompeii exhibit is being featured at our Discovery Place and I really wanted the girls to see it. I had prepared them with a little history and they really enjoyed the many artifacts that were on display. The end of the exhibit was a little freaky for them. I can see where the body casts could be very disturbing, and prepared them for what they would see before we walked in. I think all would have been well had the Roman guard not looked so menacing. He apparently embraced the role with all his being because he really became more stern and menacing when my oldest clutched my arm in fear. I reassured her that he was just a guy playing a role, then I let him know I did not appreciate him making the situation worse. He could see she was bothered, why make it worse! Grrr. Regardless of the minor fear factor, I think the exhibit was beneficial. This time I was able to take pics as long as I promised not to use flash…here are a few from the day:

for professional purposes only, of course.

My personal laptop can not hit the school network. Since the new laptops were ready I decided to accept the offer and claim one. Now I don’t have to carry mine back and forth. At times there will be inconveniences, but I think the USB thumb drive will take care of any that may come about. Although the same size it is somewhat lighter than my personal laptop. The tech geek in me is loving the opportunity to learn a new computer. Unfortunately, with progressive reports due Monday, I will not be playing much this weekend.

Students are preparing to debate the electoral college. Had the debate in an earlier class today. Some of the most fun I have ever had in school. This is too funny and rather impressive to watch. These guys know their stuff!

Jem said it right this evening when he described my school year as the best and worst ever. Worst in the since of time requirement and how much I have stressed over getting it right. Best in that I am LOVING it. My students are self-accountable. How AWESOME! All the training you receive in edu classes does not prepare you for the reality of the traditional classroom. So much is geared toward the motivated student. Yes, yes, Wongisms say that we have the ability to motivate students and I agree to a degree. However, let’s face it…MOST of what is taught in edu programs can not be considered REALITY. The students are challenging me and ASKING ME to be more challenging. WHAT?!?! They want more time to discuss and ponder. They want more time for debate AND they are prepared for it. It was amazing to watch my first period debate the electoral college system. Truly cool.

Rainy days and Mondays…I’ll take the rainy day anytime, but Monday’s tend to suck.

It was later than I wanted to leave, but still plenty of time to make it by my required arrival time. Driving in my car…turned on the radio…Yeah, I was jamming to the sounds of David McCullough reading 1776. Rock on baby! Traffic is bad, but not unbearable. If there was a traffic light, I was stopping. No big, still time. I get on the wonderful two lane scenic tour that I have to take each day and am traveling just over the 55 mph speed limit. Probably 60 or so? I don’t know, I was too busy watching the car behind me try to hitch a ride in my trunk. Ten minutes from school and I come up on another vehicle. Honestly, I have no idea how long I drove behind this guy, but I noticed ten minutes from arrival. I was at least a car length back. Jem says that was too close, and he is probably right. Either way…Looks like all three of us will be making the same cut off. All slow, silver car almost to a stop and I noticed the parking sticker is for the attached university. I am certain we are going to the same place. Woo. freakin. hoo. The cut off road speed is 35 mph and there is no way I’m speeding on this road. The backwoods police are dying for revenue. We make it to the University and silver car turns off the opposite direction, and I turn off to my parking lot. No idea where white car behind me went. I pull into the lot where we are expected to park and choose a space. Gathering my stuff I notice a silver car waiting for me to get out. I thought dude was waiting for me to get out so that he could pull into the space beside me. Annoyed I was, there were plenty of spaces…walk the extra five steps! When I got out of the car the older er…gentleman loudly spoke to me. I turned and said, “excuse me?” He repeated, “TAILGATING AT 65 MPH CAUSES ACCIDENTS!” Not happy. You followed me to my work parking lot to complain about my driving? STALKER! I responded with sweet sarcasm, “I’m sorry, did someone wreck? No.” Turned around collected my belongings and went inside. This incident clouded my entire day. To make it worse, I think it was the president of the university and I teach his son. Fortunately, he does not sign my paycheck.

If you’re going to piss someone off you might as well go to the top…

As most have realized, my favorite means of procrastination is to play with the web…more specifically, my blog. I really like my green summer garden theme, but occasionally one just wants a little change. I found several really cute themes that work with the latest version of WP. I also found an admin theme that works for me. I don’t like the layout or colors of the standard WP Admin window so I love it when new tools and themes are available. Fluency has a great layout and allows for drop-down menu compatibility, but I use many plugins so it is not the best option for this blog. However, I use it on several other sites where I have fewer plugins to play with. I am a huge fan of drop down menus. Maybe it is laziness. If so, so be it, but I object to click, click, click to get where I need to go. To solve that issue I use Admin Drop Down from Planet Ohz. As I mentioned, I don’t like the color scheme for WPs Admin page. I’m also not interested in coding a new style sheet myself. I did that once, and it isn’t difficult, but it didn’t turn out exactly as I wanted either. Since I wanted a new color scheme I went in search of a new plugin to do it for me and found Baltic Amber Themes & Schemes. Very nice colors for the admin page and it is as simple as point and click.

That is probably enough time spent procrastinating. I have to prepare for the upcoming week and feel guilty about the time I did not spend grading papers. Is it wrong to want to have weekend time for family and self? Really? Something has to give. I am completely worn out during the week and resent the need to spend all weekend doing what I have spent all week doing. Yes, it is selfish. So sorry.