It's been a very busy week!

Most of the week was spent studying fish and completing a perch dissection. The students presented information and posters about their chosen fish. The dissection went well. No lives were lost and no one had to go to the nurse. The kids really got into it and I was constantly running from table to table answering questions and giving advice. We finish up tomorrow with our perch practicum so I have to go in early and set up the lab stations for testing. With paper grading, the labs, answering parent emails, and all of the other little things that eat into my time like monitoring the hallway, counseling students, etc..., I rarely got a restroom break or a quiet moment to relax. An assistant principal came in for my last formal evaluation during one day of the dissection. It was my largest class and probably the hardest class this semester to motivate. The class did wonderful, staying on task and working hard the whole period. I was really proud of them. I'm looking forward to a nice, quiet weekend to recuperate and let the swelling in my feet from all of the walking go down. It will sure be a treat to prop my legs up for a day and do as little as possible. At least the students are still working before Christmas break, though I have seen some slacking off and several have been pulled out by parents for vacations. The teachers are all getting that vacant stare that comes with exhaustion. At a faculty meeting the principal said that we have three weeks until Christmas break. A teacher (not me this time!) shouted out, "Two and a half weeks!". We all laughed because we knew the feeling. We will make it if we pace ourselves and keep the kids motivated. I just wish I had the time to go to the restroom once in awhile. You miss those little things in life when you don't have them.

Back To The Old Snake Pit

Well, it's back to teaching today. I got there at 7:45 AM and there were 3 kids waiting outside my door to take makeup tests. *sigh* After that I ran off some lab papers for a Biology dissection tomorrow. By this time it was 9 AM and I finally could grab a cup of expresso. Too soon it was time for my first class, Anatomy. We watched a video on spaying a rabbit (we are studying reproduction). We discussed it and followed up with some review questions over reproduction material we covered before the break and which they had forgotten most of. Then it was time for Biology class. We discussed mammal characteristics and main orders. They then worked on their word list to know for the fetal pig dissection. Lunch was a 20 minute wolfing down of my usual vegetarian fare. I then had one more Biology class. In between when I had a few moments I graded and returned the last of the tests they took right before the break and set up the dissection supplies for tomorrow. Tomorrow I have to work on their final exams and the chapter tests that the Biology and Anatomy classes will be taking Friday. I just didn't have time to get to them today. At 3PM I got out of there, put the top down on the Miata, and turned up the music. When I got home I finally got to use the restroom for the first time today. This is a pretty typical day for me. I taught well but am exhausted both physically and emotionally. The constant questions, clarifications, and problems that must be solved in the classroom really sap my strength. You leave feeling like you have been beaten down. This is what teaching is all about, folks. It's not a job for those without a strong constitution and desire to persevere.

No A/C

All my grades are now in. I stayed in my room for a few hours today but there is something wrong with the air conditioning on our hallway and it got up to a humid 83 degrees F. That's not bad until I tried to move around and pack up a few items. Whew! I went back home at 1 PM and completed some paperwork in cool comfort. It's one thing to want to finish the year but with a heart condition I'm not going to kill myself in the process. I'm about wrapped up anyway. One more hour of work and turning in papers and everything will be wrapped up until next year. This summer is pretty much free except for a workshop on website design and one on producing an Anatomy exit exam and pacing guide. These are both in June. Whee! I can almost see the end of the trail where I will get a few days of rest.