Almost time for school!
Alrighty, where did I leave off last time? My dad's still in the hospital - or an apartment down from the hospital. They can't get his incision to stop leaking. I know that's gross, but that's the truth. So, almost a month later, he's still there. I haven't been able to go see him in the past 2 weeks b/c I've had weekend plans for both of the weekends. I feel slightly bad, but I can't be his mom. At least I've gone out there - my sister hasn't been here at all. She's planning on coming on Friday if he's out of the hospital. It would be good to see her.
Besides that, I worked the hottest band camp EVER starting the last week of July. Honestly, I thought that we were all going to shrivel up and die it was so freaking hot. It was in the mid to upper 90's everyday with the heat index around 110. WTF? There was a kid in a neighboring county who died of heat stroke and a few more who had to be sent to the hospital. Anyhow, it just reinforced my not wanting to be a high school band director even more. :)
Last weekend, Nate and I went camping with some band director friends and white water rafting. Now, I was told we were going to a mountain cabin. My idea of a mountain cabin is a cabin with electricity and running water. That's not what this was. We got there, after driving on dirt roads for about 40 minutes (I didn't know that dirt roads existed that were that long!!) and it was a shack that the dad of one of the people we were with had built. The water was collected rain water. There was one semi-bathroom, but it was in the "cabin" that her dad was staying in . We were to stay in the storage shed with wasp nests in it and an outhouse down the mountain that also had a wasp nest. Well, I am allergic to bees and deathly afraid of them. I wish I had been more prepared for this camping experience. So, Nate and I slept in my car. I probably seemed like a TOTAL wus, but I really don't care. Wasps and Susan do not mix. I came back with bug bites out the wazoo and a tick on me. Not a fun experience. BUT, the white water rafting was AWESOME and it made up for it.
Last week was pre-planning - always fun stuff. We have about 25 new teachers in my school (teachers don't want to stay at my school, I wonder why....??), so this should be another interesting year. We, once again, failed AYP and the NCLB act, so the kids have a choice again to go to another school. Last year, it was fine b/c the choices were about an hour away on the other side of the county, but this year, the school they have a choice for is only 20 minutes away. 100 kids have already transferred. What really sucks is the reason we failed was b/c 8 special ed kids didn't pass math. Everyone else's scores went up. And, to make it even worse, at least 6 of those sped kids qualified for an alternate test (easier), but our sped coordinator is so lazy, she didn't put in the paperwork for them. Thanks.
Anyhow, nothing much else going on. My assistant is still dating the child molestor. You would think someone would have more dignity than that. Guess now. We've already had one parent complain, so we'll see what happens when school starts. Anyone going to Mid-West this year?
Besides that, I worked the hottest band camp EVER starting the last week of July. Honestly, I thought that we were all going to shrivel up and die it was so freaking hot. It was in the mid to upper 90's everyday with the heat index around 110. WTF? There was a kid in a neighboring county who died of heat stroke and a few more who had to be sent to the hospital. Anyhow, it just reinforced my not wanting to be a high school band director even more. :)
Last weekend, Nate and I went camping with some band director friends and white water rafting. Now, I was told we were going to a mountain cabin. My idea of a mountain cabin is a cabin with electricity and running water. That's not what this was. We got there, after driving on dirt roads for about 40 minutes (I didn't know that dirt roads existed that were that long!!) and it was a shack that the dad of one of the people we were with had built. The water was collected rain water. There was one semi-bathroom, but it was in the "cabin" that her dad was staying in . We were to stay in the storage shed with wasp nests in it and an outhouse down the mountain that also had a wasp nest. Well, I am allergic to bees and deathly afraid of them. I wish I had been more prepared for this camping experience. So, Nate and I slept in my car. I probably seemed like a TOTAL wus, but I really don't care. Wasps and Susan do not mix. I came back with bug bites out the wazoo and a tick on me. Not a fun experience. BUT, the white water rafting was AWESOME and it made up for it.
Last week was pre-planning - always fun stuff. We have about 25 new teachers in my school (teachers don't want to stay at my school, I wonder why....??), so this should be another interesting year. We, once again, failed AYP and the NCLB act, so the kids have a choice again to go to another school. Last year, it was fine b/c the choices were about an hour away on the other side of the county, but this year, the school they have a choice for is only 20 minutes away. 100 kids have already transferred. What really sucks is the reason we failed was b/c 8 special ed kids didn't pass math. Everyone else's scores went up. And, to make it even worse, at least 6 of those sped kids qualified for an alternate test (easier), but our sped coordinator is so lazy, she didn't put in the paperwork for them. Thanks.
Anyhow, nothing much else going on. My assistant is still dating the child molestor. You would think someone would have more dignity than that. Guess now. We've already had one parent complain, so we'll see what happens when school starts. Anyone going to Mid-West this year?