I didn't watch the Superbowl

The Superbowl was on, but the TV was behind me as I worked on my lesson plans at the kitchen table. Consequently, I didn't watch any of it. I worked for hours--rewriting the science test, making a study guide for each science lesson, and making a chart for math. I'm getting a cold and my eyes are itchy and blurry. After staring at my laptop screen all afternoon and evening, I must now be legally blind. I am typing this with my eyes closed, only opening them to check for squiggly red lines.

Thanks for listening to my whine. Here's your cheese. :)

It's Just Wrong When Friday is the Busiest Day of the Week!

Friday's are normally a little hectic--it seems there's always at least 2 tests on Fridays. But there needn't be an IEP meeting with Rotney's family and an incident in the boys' restroom and 3 tests on Friday. That's just mean.

Just before lunch, Moses flew into the boys' restroom and forcefully slammed a boy into the sink. Boy was crying, Moses was saying, "It's okay. It was just an accident," in a manner that indicated he really thought it was okay he had nearly broken the sobbing boy's ribs because It Was Just An Accident. Arrgh.

This comment is about as welcome to my ears as "I was just kidding". It's always said after an unkind remark has been made. Saying "I was just kidding" doesn't make it better. Saying, "It was just an accident" doesn't make it better.

Moses is an Aspie, so it approaches being acceptable that he made the remark. I still held him responsible, though, even if I didn't punish him. I don't think he grokked my explanation of why it wasn't okay, but at least he heard it.

The meeting with Rotney's family went fairly well. I think one member of the family realizes that the other was in the wrong for acquiring a copy of the basal test book, and that Rotney has not been done any favors being taught to memorize everything and not think about anything. We've added more support services. They were appreciative, if not still a little demanding. Whatever. I don't want to put up with another knockdown, slap down meeting with them. Life's too short and we're on the downward turn of this school year.

My friend was released from the hospital today. She did have a mini-stroke, caused by a very small, inoperable aneurysm (that's a ridiculously hard word to spell!) in her brain. They will monitor it, checking every 6 months or so to see if it's increasing in size. It must be worrying--she must feel like a ticking bomb. She will be back at work on Monday; the doctors said she should return to her routine life as soon as possible. Keep your fingers crossed for her!

Best Friend Update

They're still not certain why my friend had her episode yesterday. For now, they're calling it a mini stroke. She's still in the hospital and tests are still being done.

She's someone who totally gets me, and I need her to be there to interpret my actions to the ones who don't. :)

Gosh, I miss her!

My Best Friend

I've written on here before about my best friend at work. She's the Special Ed teacher assigned to my inclusion class. We're both avid readers with similar tastes and we're always giving each other books (Okay--she gives me books; I lend her books. It works for us.) I'm her shoulder; she's mine.

Today she was taken from her home in an ambulance. She woke up, got dressed, and walked into the living room and started speaking gibberish to her daughter. Her daughter checked her pulse and blood pressure and both were sky high. My friend has no memory of this--she only remembers waking up in the hospital. She called me from the hospital, speaking with slurred speech and making little sense at times. At other times, she made sense, but the slurred speech was always there.

They think she's had a stroke, but they're not sure. She's been sent from our community hospital to a large teaching hospital about an hour away for more tests.

I'm so worried about her. She's 61 years old. She wanted to teach another year or two before she retired. She may not have that option anymore.

I get to work tomorrow!

Finally, after seven days (in case you've lost count--2 sick leave days, 3 snow days, and a weekend) I get to be a teacher again. The roads are clear, the parking lots and school driveways (incredibly, that kept us out today) are clear, and everyone is sick of being at home.

I've worn out the internets the past few days. One of the teacher boards I frequent had a post by a teacher that made me laugh. Maybe everyone who says we need to overhaul education has come across a teacher who expresses herself this way:

I used to spiratically jump on here and participate but haven't in a while.

Is anyone else picturing this teacher on a mini-trampoline, jumping and doing three-sixties as she participates? Clearly she meant "sporadically". It's frightening to think that to her ear "spiratically" sounded the same.

Maybe she's a closet pirate freak.

Maybe she does jump on a trampoline.

Or maybe she's one of those teachers who took the Praxis test half a dozen times, finally passing on her last possible attempt.

Those teachers are out there. They think they can teach primary grades because "First grade is so easy!"

They make me hang my head in shame.

The Truth and Nothing But the Truth

I hate grading papers.

Hate it.

Thanks for listening.

Robert Jordan

I've been reading his series of 12 books steadily since Christmas, and I've yet to finish the fifth one. I feel like a reading failure since I normally take 2 or 3 days to finish most books.

However, most books aren't thousand-pagers. The fonts are small, too.

The main plot line has now split into three separate plots; it's dense and confusing reading. I frequently have to check the glossary to remember who someone is and how to say a particular proper noun (name, place, or thing).

In the fifth book, one Very Important Character hasn't been mentioned at all. I guess he'll get page space in book 6.

Accidentally reading the first 30 or so pages of the sixth book and learning of a key character's death has made me attuned to any nuance of foreshadowing about this character. I'm probably reading too much into most of it.

I'm enjoying the read, but it will be the end of March before I finish this series. I'm just not used to anything taking that long to read.

And it's seriously going to encroach on my rereading of the Dresden Files series, prepping for the next book release in April. I've got about a dozen of those to read, too.

My eyes hurt, but I'm captivated by the thought of being an Aes Sedai, so I'll plug along.