Sorry for the lack of posts...

...I wish I could say it was because I was having such a great time and was wrapped up with my students and how well they're doing.

Between last Monday and this Monday, I had 3 days that I considered my worst at school. Last Monday, last Wednesday, and this Monday. Luckily I think things are going a bit better now. We'll see if we can keep them going. Some of our students are absolutely uncontrollable, and they tend to drag some of the others down with them.

I have discovered that I can wing lessons without planning. Unfortunately, this came during the first quarter this year. After Monday, I kind of decided that if my kids didn't care at all about my lessons, I wouldn't either. I decided that sleep for the sake of patience and sanity was better than having great lessons since it was looking like my lessons were just going to be defecated on anyway. After two days with little to no planning, I can say with certainty that I can handle my content well enough to get by without preparing. Hopefully I can pull myself together and stop doing it that way, though.

One of my pet projects (a student who has a lot going for him, but his behavior around his classmates leaves him somewhere short of civilized) is coming in tomorrow and I think he knows that I mean business. No more games with him (tomorrow anyway). Actually, everything is a game with him. If he does his work, I win. If he doesn't, it's a draw. He doesn't win until he refuses to talk to me at the end of the day, which he hasn't yet done.

I was talking to the little cousin of one of my students. She's in the 3rd grade. I've spoken with her once before. She told me this afternoon that she's sad and wishes her dad could come pick her up (she was waiting for her cousin to get out of football practice). She then volunteered that she hasn't seen him in a while. I start wondering if this is a matter of hours, days, weeks, or longer. Sure enough, she last saw him on her birthday. In April. She doesn't have his number, doesn't know where he is, and doesn't know when he'll reappear in her life (for probably no more than a day at that). That's tragic.

I was talking to some of the fathers after football practice. They really appreciate seeing me at the games and dropping by the practices. Like, a lot. That was good to hear...if the kids don't appreciate me, then at least their parents do. Time to go plan/grade my life away...end of the quarter is next Friday, and I'm about 2 weeks behind on grading because I decided that Montgomery all weekend last weekend would be a good idea. Plus, I gave a quiz today, will give one Friday, and have to give a test early next week. I'm going to be in grading prison for the foreseeable future. Hopefully that's the only thing that will keep me from posting again soon, and not a complete lack of humanity from my students.