VICKI: (referring to a newspaper) Hey George, how do I open up this thing up?
GEORGE: Really?
ME: Oh, Vicki. Seriously?
VICKI: What? I'm a girl.
(I glare)
VICKI: What? Only guys read newspaper. You know, coffee cup in one hand, newspaper in the other.
EMMA: Yeah. Can't we read the Kohl's fliers?
EMELY: If they wanted us to read newspapers, they'd make ( Read more... )

Today, during a fire drill, all of our students are standing in quiet lines on the sidewalk, waiting for the OK from the principal ( Read more... )

I'm having an I-Hate-Teaching Week. It's a little early in the year for a week like this, and that troubles me a little. The good news is that when I feel disillusioned with my job, I write like a fiend. It's almost like, every Monday, I choose whether I'm going to be more dedicated to writing or to teaching that week.  This week, I wrote about 6, ( Read more... )

The English teacher who used to work in my room must have loved left-handed people, because she left about 20 pairs of scissors, and half of them are lefties.  What percentage of the population is lefties - like, five percent? Anyway, after watching three periods of students struggle with lefty scissors, I decided to warn my seventh period:

ME: So ( Read more... )

Well, I'm back to work now. I'd be lying if I said I was feeling fresh and excited about the new year. It isn't that I stopped loving the job, or the kids...I just hate the teachers. Waiting tables all summer wasn't particularly ideal, but I genuinely enjoyed the company. It was nice to reconnect with Julia and work with Karen again. I also got to ( Read more... )

On August 10th, we'll leave for a less-than-epic road trip, but a road trip it is, so I'm excited. I'm excited enough to want to talk about it, so that's what I'm going to spend my time doing.

Here's the itinerary.

August 10 - Drive to Virginia to Shenandoah National Park.  Camp on a cliff in the southern portion of the park.  With any luck, see ( Read more... )

I finished c25k a while ago, but I haven't been able to get out and run more than 3 times a week, so that's been bumming me out a little bit.  I really noticed a huge change in my fitness levels, and was even able to drop 5 pounds over the course of the program, so right now I'm really just maintaining, not improving.

I spent all day yesterday ( Read more... )

As of today, unless something terrible happens, I have a job next year.  Three people in my school lost their job today, though, so it really wasn't a good time to celebrate, so I'll do it here:

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

After all of my pondering, two things happened yesterday that made me realize that I don't want to leave teaching (yet ( Read more... )

There is an 80% chance that I'll lose my job.  I say 80% because things have been changing every day, but today was an especially bad day.  I won't go into detail unless it actually happens ( Read more... )

Ralph is my least likeable special ed student.

ME: Oh, hey Ralph! So, we've been doing this assignment for, oh, say, twenty minutes.  And, what's that you've got on your paper? Ah, yes, I see - nothing. Not even a word.

RALPH: Oh. This paper? Yeah. Nothing.

ME: Uh-hmm. So, do you understand the prompt? You have to write a paragraph summarizing what ( Read more... )