A case of the mean reds...

[ariadnequinn]

My day was actually pretty good, and there's no real reason for me to feel this way...but today in the parking lot, as I was leaving school, my work posse said something to me that made me snap.  It was something innocent, something silly, something that no one could ever guess would get under my skin the way it did.  So I can't blame them.

But it was the straw that broke the camel's back.  I drove home SUPER PISSED.  I went grocery shopping (today, instead of tomorrow morning...trying something new) VERY PISSED.  I came home and took a shower KINDA PISSED.  I suppose now I'm just PISSED.  Not for any real reason.  I'm suddenly very tired, as if the two snow days I had sucked me of all my energy, even though I mostly sat around reading/writing/playing on the computer/doing school stuff.

I feel like I could sleep forever...but...that would pretty much be death.  And I'm not down with that.

Anyway...I thought I'd make a list of things pissing me off, as that might reduce my attitude to just plain pissed.

1. My Jacob.  I haven't heard from him since his "late night sexual harassment texts" last Saturday.  Even though we still haven't exchanged Christmas gifts (long story), and I sent him an e-mail with several suggestions on how we could do this with the least inconvenience to both of us.  Grrrrrrrrr.
2. Students.  I was nice enough to show a video today (we watched both "Deep Ocean" and "Shallow Seas" from Discovery Channel's "Planet Earth") because (a) it was the day after not one, but TWO snow days as well as a Friday, so there was little chance I'd be able to get them to do anything, and (b) it's the last day of school before our week off, so there was no point in trying to start anything new anyway.  And yet, I still had to have THREE students removed from my class for being disruptive.  Really?  REALLY?  Fuck you, assholes.  At least when they left, I was able to turn the video back on...most of the rest of the class seemed interested in it, and they were not happy that I turned it off to deal with the miscreants in the back.
3. Work BFF.  As new teachers, we have these "new teacher meetings" every other Friday.  We weren't supposed to have one today, but when the VP asked my work BFF if he was prepared to do his presentation (each of us were assigned a chapter in a book to read and do a mini-presentation on...he has chapter 1.  I have chapter 2), he said yes.  So she decided to have the meeting after all.  My problem?  He hadn't actually read the chapter yet.  So he spent his prep reading/making handouts.  Why couldn't he have just been honest?  "Actually, no, I didn't get to it yet...I'm sorry."  That's what I would have said.  I'm disappointed that he lied.
4. New Teacher Meeting.  When my work BFF was a little late to the meeting, the VP decided to let other people make presentations.  Wait...what?  Don't people usually read books in chapter order?  I mean...I always do.  Have I been doing something wrong?  So a total of 3 chapters were covered during the course of the meeting...completely out of order.  If chapter 1 explains the concept the rest of the book is talking about, isn't it logical to discuss that one first before you go into the nitty-gritty?  Or is it just me?  I know I'm knit-picking here, but this is utter and complete nonsense.  And nonsense always aggravates me.
5. Differentiation.  On the surface, it sounds all warm and cuddly - students have different learning styles/different ranges of ability, and a teacher should recognize that and address it in the classroom.  Ok.  I don't necessarily disagree with using different approaches...BUT...they are now in high school.  Guess what?  The world will not cater to their preferences.  They need to learn to deal with reality.  I do not have the time to discover all of my students' strengths and play to them...not when I have 24 in a class, not when I have a curriculum to follow, not if I plan on getting through a chapter in less than 3 months.  I'm sorry, those are the breaks, toots.  It's my way or the highway.  Again - I use a number of different techniques to address various learning styles...but I cannot sit there and hold their hand and coax them to do their homework or study in whatever way they'd like to perform these tasks.  Grow the fuck up.  None of their professors will give a shit about this stuff when they get to college.  I'm trying to prepare them for life.
6. My Posse.  Not really their fault, I guess.  Suddenly they wanted to go to happy hour, and I was all like, "I don't know..."  because I wasn't in the mood and I'm not feeling quite right (not sick, but something may be coming), and their response was, 'Oh, she says no now, but she'll follow us there anyway."  That's it.   Decision made.  "Love you guys...bye."  I think they were shocked.  I know it was harmless...but there was something about the way they said it.  And it was better for me to come home and get over it than go out and pretend like nothing was wrong.

I do feel a little better now.  Maybe even just mildly annoyed.

On that note, on to a bowl of chocolate ice cream and "A Few Good Men" (one of only two movies I can tolerate Tom Cruise in).

P.S.  Anyone know where I can watch "Wolverine and the X-Men" online without having to download some ridiculous (and probably virus-infested) toolbar/player/whatever?  Or pay?  Cuz I don't wanna pay.  I made it all the way to episode 18, and now I'm stuck.  Suggestions?