no school!

Today is a no school day, which means I still report for work but there won't be any classes. I have to go to a training for the new electronic gradebook but other than that, I can spend the whole day doing lesson plans and cleaning the pigsty of a classroom I have inherited. (There is no custodial staff where I work.)
The phone I bought on e-bay seems to be broken. So people, if you need to reach me, use email! On another fun note, I appear to be developing another skin tag. Is this something that happens with age? EW!

The best sandwich ever

I just had a tuna sandwich with bread and butter pickles on toasted whole wheat. I just had to share because it was the best. sandwich. ever. Or maybe I was just really hungry.

MIT

My kid got a letter from MIT. Not a big deal letter, just an invitation saying when and where their recruiters would be. But still, MIT?? Holy crap.

Last Day!

Today is my last day of academy! I made it! Or, I'm really close anyway! If I can just get through today I will be done. Today we're learning about classroom management.
Yesterday, one of the cadets was dismissed. She was the one that kept raising her hand asking really stupid questions. The instructor would be reading the powerpoint, hammering home some stupid point that was totally obvious to anyone with half a brain. Of course her hand would go up. Then she would ask a question that had either already been answered or was on the next slide. It drove everyone else crazy. Anyway the past 2 days we have been learning how to physically restrain someone when they are acting aggressively. It's been very hands-on, and we've had to overcome the whole "you're a boy and I don't want your arms around my waist" thing. She had a really hard time with the whole thing and I guess they decided she is a security risk. So she's gone, just like that! Couldn't have happened to a nicer gal. NOT! I'm being mean, but I'm glad she's gone.

I got promoted

Not really, I didn't get promoted to head of the math department. What really happened is the other math teacher quit. So now I'm it. This means my class sizes will be huge. We're talking 16 screwed up, ADHD, sometimes violent high school aged boys in the same room. I just don't see a whole lot of teaching going on. Well, it's a good thing I am going through academy so I can be a corrections officer instead. Yeah, it's just a good thing.

4 more days

Only 4 more days of that lousy academy! I cannot wait to be done!
All that sitting makes me so restless. It's good to have a refresher perspective on what my students' days are like. It will help me remember to have them actively participating and up out of their seats every 15 minutes or so.
So, it will make me a better teacher, and that's really all that matters in the long run. It's the short run that gets me.

Two things

Two things have happened since I started working at the department of corrections. First, I am much more feminine when I am at home than I used to be. I need to have my nails just so, my toes pedicured, something sparkly somewhere on my body, and lots and lots of pink. Second, I am watching more cartoons. I find that I have lost interest in every other tv show I used to watch, and now the only things I watch are The Simpsons and Family Guy. Why? Because I get plenty of reality all day long. When I get home, I need to be a princess in a more pleasant, funny reality. A reality where the criminals don't hurt anyone and the police bungle around, never catching them. Those are my observations so far. It's still been such a short time, who knows what the long term effects will be! If I keep the job, and that's still a big if.
Only 9 more days of academy left to go. I can do it! I can do it!

13 to go

Only 13 more academy days to go. I'm almost halfway through. Yesterday was actually much, much better. We learned about drugs and mental health treatment, so the classes were interesting. We will be tested on this material, and they gave us a study guide with the test questions, so we had that to fill out as well. All in all, not a bad day. Hopefully today will be as good or better!

Another funny CNN bias note... I guess they are full on supporting Barack Obama. On their website, there is a link that says "Who will Obama pick as VP?" Then right below it is a link that says "Who will be John McCain's running mate?"

Day 3

This is day 3 of 3 days of training in Phoenix. I am really looking forward to getting home. I like my coworkers, but nobody needs to spend this much time around the people they work with! There's bonding, then there's bonding. Right now, for example, I have my back turned to my still slumbering roommate. Why? She apparently doesn't wear underwear to bed, and let me tell you a full moon is out, plus some.