The Best Laid Plans Of Mice and Women

Okay, so my good intentions lasted about as long as an ice cube tossed into the hot tub. I've been crazy busy. Here's a recap:

Midyear exams --- Teach, review, create, administer, correct and assess, upload grades, return and discuss. Times 5. The seniors did surprisingly well, all but one of them passing easily. (The one dud was the gal who started halfway through the semester and who might appear in class twice a week.) Creative writing students who followed directions did well. Honors sophomores' performances were disappointing, especially regarding their essays, so we're working on beefing those up ASAP. Half of the Skills kids passed, and half didn't, even being allowed to use a sizable collection of notes and review sheets. If I had to predict, I'd say those exams foretell who will pass for the year, but in the name of avoiding self-fulfilling prophecies, we'll all pretend I didn't say that.

Collaborative Action Research --- That's the name of the college course I'm currently taking. We don't actually conduct the research because it would have to be sanctioned by a university, and our local university doesn't do that, but we learn the process. That way we can replicate it locally if our school or district wants to make some changes based on data that come from our own practices. Each session we have to make a presentation, either to the group as a whole or to a sub-group, and next week - our final session - we have to make a PowerPoint presentation of the research we've found and gathered on an essential question we've developed. I'm getting nervous because I can't quite pin down the exact question I want to use as the basis of this project. I'll figure it out over this weekend. More on the subject later.

Teaching five classes of high school students --- That's been my job for years, but this year the gods have seen fit to punish me with an extremely difficult group among the other four relatively normal ones. And now another student whose skills are weaker than the others in the class has been added to the mix. On two of the four days he's been with me, he's been sent out of class to the office, once for refusing to stop taunting other students and profanity, and once for taking out and using a cellphone in class. I know I'm aging more quickly this year because I have to spend so much energy preparing for, managing, and recovering from this class, and that makes me unhappy. Two steps forward, three steps back is the way it feels most days, and I've gained the deep sympathy of other teachers of freshmen (who had some of these yahoos last year) and sophomores (who had some of these yahoos last year). I need to sit down with the principal to have a face to face conversation with him about the repercussions of some "bargains" he's made on behalf of a few of these children.

Visitors --- I love to host friends in my home and share our place with them, especially ones who've played host to me. My preference is that they visit in the summer or at times when school obligations are lighter, but that timing isn't always possible. This time around, I (we) played host to my friend Brick from Belgium and his wife, Mieja, who arrived at the bus terminal in a city half an hour south of us on the afternoon of my birthday, January 24. They'd taken a bus from NYC where they'd been visiting his sister, and I chauffeured them to our house to unpack and then join us for dinner out. The restaurant was his favorite two years ago when he visited, and we had a lovely dinner. My dear husband forgot his wallet (as he's done enough to make me sure of bringing my own finances any time we go out), so I ended up paying for my own birthday dinner party. That became a running joke for the week they were here. While my spouse and I conducted our usual teacher lives, they spent their days snowshoeing, using the spa, driving around the area visiting some of the places he'd seen on his last visit, conducting two acting workshops at the school, and keeping the wood stove going. Of the remaining dinners, two were made by me, and the rest were prepared by them. They love to cook together, so what was a treat for them was also a delight for us. We ate very well, and we have plastic tubs and containers of scrumptious leftovers. Since they were fairly independent, their presence for so many days was very little burden. Of course some routines, like walking around in our underwear or keeping the bedroom door open at night, go by the wayside, but we survived. Yesterday I woke at 5:30 and left the house just after 6 a.m. to bring them back to the bus station for their trip to Logan Airport, final destination: Houston. We made the station with about 5 minutes to spare, hugged our goodbyes, and after I saw the bus depart for the southbound interstate exit, I had plenty of time to drive northward to school and the final day of a crazy week.

Oh...didn't I mention returning midyear exams on Monday? Or the snow day on Wednesday? Or report cards being mailed on Thursday? Or the pep rally on Thursday morning when, at the same time, they also called in drug-sniffing dogs and police to check the backpacks that the students had left in the classrooms? (5 bags of interest, one with a cigarette lighter, and one boy suspended for having drug paraphernalia, but no actual drugs which the kids undoubtedly carry on them.) Yeah, it's not been the most low-key week in recent memory.

Last night we went to our favorite local Italian restaurant (yes, he brought his wallet this time) and enjoyed a pleasant meal, and I conked out on the couch about an hour after we returned home. Today's been very mellow and shapeless, and I'm feeling almost back to normal. The guest room bed has fresh linens, the doors to the messy rooms are open again, I've eaten several small meals at odd times, and I'm schlepping around in oversized t-shirt and slippers, hair wet from my post-spa shower. I had a nice time with my friends here, but it's good to have my routines back too. Ahhhhh!

In the name of "shorter is better"...

It's not always the case that shorter is better, but I'm returning to that philosophy for this blog which means I'll need to post more often. In that light...here we go:

Exams...what joy! Three down and two to go. I've had to tweak all but one of them, and actually create one of them from scratch, but that part's done, and most of what's left is the correcting. As much as possible is some kind of short answer - matching, multiple choice, fill-in - and the rest is focused writing of a particular format. I can get quite a bit done tomorrow when I don't have an exam and I do have time in my own classroom. My goal is to have exams finished by the time I leave school on Friday. Of course my largest class has its exam that day, but I'll get as close to that goal as I can. After all, this weekend will be a little busy and I want to be able to enjoy it without the spectre of grades hanging over my head.

One of my delights is the yoga class that my friend Kristie holds right in my building. She gets us to focus on the world of our yoga mats, the soothing music she plays, and her soothing, almost hypnotic voice leading us through the moves. I can't do everything with the strength and smoothness that I used to have, and I can't balance on my left foot more than a few seconds so I'm good for a few chuckles when we do "tree," but I can do a darn good shoulder stand and I'm fairly flexible for an old gal, so I embrace the practice. It takes me out of the physical and mental busyness and lets me focus on my mental and physical well-being. Good stuff. Namaste.

Catchup

January is that odd combination of slowness and speed. Because the weather is so changeable and can be so problematic, it's a daily concern, and that can be wearing, making the time pass slowly. The speedy part is associated with my work: not long after we return from winter break (I still call it Christmas vacation), midyear exams make their ugly or auspicious appearance. Those days in the interim are a rush to complete the lessons that are reflected on the exams by combatting the predictable desire of the students to do as much academic work as what they'd accomplished over the vacation - typically, nothing. One snow day, early release, or two-hour delay can upset the schedule. It's a daily struggle, and exams often have to be amended almost at the last minute to include only what we've actually been able to cover. And then, after the students labor over them (or not), they all have to be corrected. Needless to say, this can be a stressful time.

Weather maps have shown us to be the target for some truly wintry weather this year. We seem to be in a flow that brings a half dozen inches of snow, sometimes more, every 2 to 4 days. If it's not snowing, it's cloudy or frigid with wind chill temperatures well below 0ºF. Today is the first day of sun, almost no wind, and temperatures above 20º since December, and I'll enjoy taking a walk in it today. The upcoming week looks fairly quiet, and that's A Good Thing. Making up exams pushes the last period exam into the next week, taking away the weekend to grade them, so it's not the optimum situation. Besides, this time, I don't want to give up my birthday this coming Saturday to school work!

I've struggled with my 4th period class all along, but finally someone with more pull than I have observed the class and demanded that I have a classroom aide. HOORAY! Although part of me is disheartened that the observations of a classroom teacher with 36+ years of experience were of less significance than those of a student support person with 7 years, the larger picture is the better focus. Julie's job is to support me by helping the students to do the right thing, be it taking a hat off, following directions, understanding a question on a quiz, or speaking with respect. So far it's working well, although some of the yahoos still make poor choices, and I now have the perspective of another adult to reinforce my observations. By giving her all the handouts and worksheets and assignments that the students are expected to complete, I know that she's able to assist them, so I can be more attentive to the quiet, cooperative students who also sometimes need help or direction. The major outcomes of the presence of my classroom aide at this point in the school year are twofold: the class will run more smoothly, and the students who make the poor choices, behaviorally and academically, are clearly on their way to failing the class. Yes, after exams, a few will have already achieved averages so low that it's mathematically impossible for them to pass for the year. That's pretty sad.

Another sadness is that the only way I could ensure that my 4th period class was reading the assigned book, ALAS, BABYLON, was to read over half of it aloud to them in class. At first I gave them "multiple guess" (multiple choice) questions, and a few students accidentally passed them with 60's. I didn't catch on to the fact that the kids as a whole just weren't reading until everyone in the class failed the quiz on chapter 4 on which they had to supply the answers. From then on I gave them what would have been the quizzes as worksheets to be filled out as they read or were read to. Sadder still than my need to read the book to them are the facts that some of them "forgot" to fill in the answers as I read to them, a few "lost" the sheets, and most still didn't finish the chapter for homework, expecting me to tell them what they missed. Nope. Not gonna happen. So now, for their midyear exam, they'll be allowed to use those worksheets to help them answer the questions about the book, and some of them will be out of luck. In fact, they have permission to use four sets of notes/review sheets to refer to for facts in their responses. They have all the tools they need to pass if they've put in any amount of effort. We'll see who steps up and who fails.

There have been some lighter events in the past couple of weeks, too. Yoga has resumed, and I've realized how much it's helped my flexibility and is toning my muscles. Kristie, the instructor, asks us at the end of each session to bow and give thanks to ourselves for our practice and for sharing our energy, and each time I realize that this activity is oh so good for me. I'm taking a grad course that's been brought to our campus, partly to stir my brain, partly to gain more credits on the pay scale. I have to acquire a total of 15 more credits to move up another notch, and it's a doable goal, one I'd like to achieve at least a year before I retire. This class is about the process of conducting action based research, and it's something that I can actually use. A dozen of us will meet with a very laid-back instructor four times and conduct searches for supporting information to try to resolve a problem of our choice. I know it sounds dull, but I can see ways in which I'll use much of what we're learning as I teach my classes. The fact that my Professional Development funds pay for it is a sweet bonus. There's an upcoming online course that's inexpensive, and one this summer at the local university that a voucher from having a student teacher will pay for, so I'm well on my way to earning those 15 credits.

Another Good Thing has been my learning how to set faceted stones to make some pretty jewelry. My friend Gary asked me to make some birthstone jewelry for himself and his daughter in a style that I'd never tried before, so I did some research and found the materials I needed to accomplish the task. Stones were imported from Thailand, metals came from the USA, and soon I'd made some lovely Alexandrite post earrings and pendants. I was so pleased with the outcome that I've continued purchasing stones and settings, and assembling rings, earrings, and pendants for myself. I've learned that setting cabochons using this process is harder than setting faceted stones, and that not every beautiful stone has an easy setting because it may not be of a standard size or shape. Undoubtedly, I'll continue, making post earrings and maybe pendants and rings to sell. It's widening my repertoire and expanding the designs that I can offer. I'm thankful that Gary gave me the challenge.

My car is still making me happy. My husband's truck can now park behind my car in the garage because the water pump was moved to let my car pull in right up to the cellar wall. The huge new tv continues to give us pleasure. The livingroom is decluttered because we'd invited people over to watch (yell at) two football games on television yesterday, but the foot of new snow kept them at home. That means we have a nice tub of homemade dip for potato chips and plenty of cheese and crackers for snacking this week. It also means I have less cleaning of the house to do in preparation for the visit of my friend Brick and his wife Mieja a week from now. They're in the US to visit friends and family, to see places where he'd spent time in the past, and to attend a reunion of his International School pals. They'll spend one of their days here giving acting workshops to students at our school, and the rest of the time is unstructured, other than wanting to snowshoe somewhere nearby. Last time he was here, two years ago, he wished for snow; well, this time, he'll see plenty of it!

Finally, last night was the first of the season with flannel sheets on our bed. Until then we'd had the usual percale sheets, a single electric blanket, and a quilt. For me to be warm, I've had to wear pajamas and turn on the electric blanket to warm the sheets. Sometimes I'd forget to turn off the blanket over night, and that can make me congested or restless when I try to sleep. Now, I can return to thin nightgowns, long or short, and the electric blanket will be necessary to preheat the sheets only on the coldest of days when we haven't been home to keep the fire going in the wood stove. Flannel sheets are sooo soft and I feel sooooo snug and warm in them! I'm a happy bedbug :)

She's Got the Look

Finally, on this last day of vacation, I'm looking rested. I told my spouse that I could easily support a schedule of 3 weeks on and 1 week off because we'd probably accomplish the same amount that way and be much more refreshed and less stressed.

The sun is out today, and the breeze is minimal, so I'll probably go for a walk later. I've enjoyed being an indoor vegetable while the clouds and wind have dominated the weather, but now I'm feeling the desire to get out, inhale fresh clean air, and get my blood moving. I've missed the weekly yoga sessions, but not enough to motivate me to practice on my own. It's time to get going again.

One of my Christmas gifts was a very small HD video camera, and I need to learn how to use it. Part of my process is reading the manual several times to figure out where the buttons are and what they do, and then trying to use it in unimportant situations. That way, when I really want to capture a person or an event, I won't be stumbling around and cursing myself for not knowing how to do it. I know I'll have plenty of opportunities to video some one-time events, like people visiting, trips that I take, athletic events, and performances in upcoming months, and I want to be ready for them. It takes SD cards, so I've purchased a few high capacity ones (8 and 4 Gb) to be used in it since video eats up a ton of space. This camera is so small ... the proverbial size-of-a-deck-of-cards ... that it should be easy to carry and use. I hope it's not also easy to lose! With luck that wrist strap will help prevent me from setting it down somewhere and leaving it behind.

It's not even noon and I feel the encroachment of the Pre-Monday Blues. In fact, I felt its cold fingers stroking my spirit yesterday. As much as I enjoy some kinds of feelings of regularity and productivity in my life, I'd prefer that they be on my terms, and those terms would include the absence of a certain collection of lazy, foul-mouthed, uncooperative, teen-aged male slugs. The saving grace is that I'm not alone in my judgement of this current crop of underclassmen as being much lazier and much less patient than students of the recent past. I think they've grown up in a world of easy and immediate answers and solutions provided by machines so they haven't had many chances to - or been asked to - slow down and think deeply, or to figure things out for themselves. This is the problem that people forecast when affordable hand-held calculators burst onto the scene. "Kids will never learn to do math in their heads. What will happen to the world then?!" I think we're getting the answer to that statement of panic now. Even with search engines, the majority of teenagers with whom I've been in contact lately don't have a clear idea of how to search for information unless it's on a social networking site. Most can't subtract (accurately) in their heads or even on paper. They believe that going to a library to conduct research means using the computers in the library to search online. They expect that the machine will understand what they're trying to say and correct all of their errors. And they feel that they can talk to other human beings the way they can talk to their computers. To me, that's the most chilling part: kids' interactions with other flesh-and-blood people in their presence are becoming less civil at an alarming rate. The distance that communications with "people" behind the glass of a computer interface provides lets them think that they can behave in ways that horrify those of us who grew up in the dark ages before this plethora of technology. I'll continue to work against this phenomenon by modeling, teaching and expecting civility, and I'll hope that thoughtful and courteous behavior doesn't go completely out of style until after I'm pushing up daisies.

addendum to "of course"

A few hours after the aforementioned email message, Sis3 sent me an email expressing her thanks for going above and beyond to provide a homey, generous setting for our family Christmas gathering. She also expressed gratitude for the gifts we gave her. I suspect that if I could check my husband's "sent" email, I'd find one to her, sent shortly after her first email arrived. Maybe not, but the possibility is strong.

Yesterday was one of those days containing several appointments, one after the other, and they each turned out to be positive in some way. The cable guy showed up on time and left us a new cable/dvr box, and he gave me instructions for what I can try if the problem we've had recurs. At this point, 24 hours later, the problem with the audio has not recurred, so we're very happy about that. Next, the financial planner revealed that we are better off in our investments than many others through this financial instability, and we may turn out okay by the end of 12-18 months. (Of course he's going to say that, but his track record on such predictions is good, so I'm optimistic.) Finally, at the projected 5-hour meeting of the Tech Council (which lasted about 4.5 hours), Josh the tech/data guy informed us of what computers exist in the school district, including platform, age, location, and level of software installed so we could begin to make recommendations to the IT director about how to proceed. The only unfortunate part was the attack on the superintendent by one townsperson who had demanded information back in April and who felt that he'd been ignored, denied information, and then given only part of it which he was able to decode (because of his clever professional skills) and find that some information had been left out. This guy, a former student whose son was also a complaining student of mine a couple of years ago, has made noise in the district for a while, but now that he's on a committee of folks who have as much or more expertise than he does and data to back it up, his ability to toss around computer jargon doesn't balance out his inadequate view of the big picture. I hope for all concerned that he's now satisfied that no one is hiding anything, and that he can't expect as a private citizen to micromanage the software and hardware choices, location, and purchases made throughout the school district. The overall accomplishment of the meeting was to recommend that the current IT director research what other nearby and similar schools use for software to accomplish state standards and course requirements, and to approach various vendors with "wish lists" of warranty, loaner/replacement, and hardware requests for possible extended contracts so we can get some very much needed laptops into the high school ASAP. (laptops in a cart can be moved to classrooms and shared among classes which is more efficient use of technology and means less need for space required for a lab of desktops) Hooray! We did take a light dinner break, ordering pizzas from a fairly new seafood and pizza place in town, and the pleasant surprise for me was that their veggie pizza includes sizable chunks of artichoke hearts. Yum! This one's worth ordering again sometime.

The Emergency Weather email system just sent the winter weather advisory message that we're in for some snow, 5 inches or more, and that the wind will pick up, making driving hazardous tonight. Hmmmm. Our tentative plans were to go to the movies to see "Marley and Me" because the mister loved the book and then go out to dinner (or vice versa, depending on our mood), and then back home to watch the New Year's Rockin' Eve on tv as the ball in Times Square falls. It may still happen since my husband has his honkin' big truck and he adores bulling around in bad weather. More on that soon.

of course

After hosting my whole New England family and their significant others, feeding them tasty food, catering to their needs, and cleaning up after them, I've received one email from Sis3 addressed to Sis2 and cc'd to me. In it, she said she was amazed that I could pull off yet another holiday gathering so well, and she felt better seeing how cluttered my house is because it always makes her feel better about hers.

Yeah.

That's the kind of thanks I look forward to from my family. I think I'll let someone else host the next 50 holiday gatherings.

Christmas II

Tomorrow (or I guess today, since it's 1 a.m. as I start writing this) my family will converge on our house for Christmas dinner and gift exchange. Ex brother in law's knee is still giving him pain and difficulty, so he asked if someone else could host this year instead of us doing the holiday at his place, and I volunteered. I've taken my time gathering the gifts and wrapping them, and now I'm waiting for the last of the baked goods to come out of the oven. Three batches of cookies, a double batch of brownies, two loaves of banana walnut bread, and a pan of banana coffee bread, all from scratch, have emerged from my kitchen. For some reason the shortbread didn't come out right, so they may have to do without it this year. I didn't make chocolate chip or sugar cookies but I may make a tray or two in the morning. On the other hand, I think we have enough sweet stuff between my homemade goodies and the boxes of chocolates and other confections that are sure to appear.

My intention is to keep the meal low key by calling it a hot buffet and having the food set out around the kitchen. Then people can nibble or feast at their whim. My mother may expect to sit at a dining table and be served, and if someone else wants to do that, I'll let them. By the time we're ready to eat, I'll be ready to put my feet up and relax. I'm naturally a cluttery person, so over the past few weeks the parts of the house neatened up for Thanksgiving have become hidden beneath stacks of papers, folders, catalogues, and other items of questionable importance. We've moved some furniture around to accommodate the new wide screen television, and to make better use of an overstuffed leather chair that's been sitting in a corner of the dining room. To move some pieces, others had to be removed so it's been quite a shuffling game, and in the process I've found things that've been stored away for years. My first laptop, negatives from a trip taken ages ago, ink cartridges from a printer that's long gone, sections of old newspapers that must contain articles I once thought to be of some interest but now none of them mean anything. It's funny how I hang on to things when I have no more need of them. I guess I think it's wasteful to throw such things away, preferring to find another use for them or keep them just in case they're needed. If I were better at not acquiring things I don't need in the first place, my job of decluttering would be much simpler. That's something for me to work on as a resolution. As for tomorrow, I just need to make the place presentable. I'll do that after the sun comes up. For now, the banana cake is out of the oven, so it's time to head to bed.