Sunday, September 16, 2007

Random Thoughts

Well, someone obviously had a talk with the weather ~ Thanks! It's cooled down, and life has returned to almost normal. This is my crazy month, with school beginning, parent nights, reorganization (we just got told we have to pick two kids to move to a combination class, teacher unspecified. Like I can choose two of my kids to move! I am already very attached to all of them, and I don't want to lose any of them, dammit. I might be okay giving up the kid who just started on Friday, but I can't give him up, since Friday was only his second day in the US, and he doesn't speak any English ~ well, almost no English)

My partner 5th grade teacher and I had our Back To School night on Thursday (while our principal sat in his office writing the surprise memo about reorganization and didn't tell us in time to alert the parents). Our BTS is about 3 weeks earlier than the official one. Who ever heard of waiting 6 weeks to have a BTS? About half my parents showed up, so I guess the other half are content to wait the 6 weeks. Or do I really have half a class full of parents who don't care enough to come to BTS? Yikes, I definitely hope not.

This week we have the official meeting for our DC trip. The travel company rep comes down with all the info for the trip, including the price (which I think is going up $100, but we added a day so that's really reasonable), and will answer all our parents' questions and concerns. And then I have a PTA board meeting this week, too. I'm the Programs chair.

I'm also getting ready to begin my first class for my Masters degree, which begins in October. I just checked my university bookstore, and the books for just this one class are $185. For one class. I think there are 8 ~ 10 books listed, but they're all required. Looks like I'll be doing a mountain of reading in October. I downloaded the syllabus for the class, and that's on my reading list for later today. September is so busy for me, I'm trying not to look ahead too much, but it's hard.

I finished the vest from Classic Knits, but it's still sitting here staring at me, not sewn together. I really should get that done, because it's wearable now (if the Weather Gods don't have a really twisted sense of humor, of course), and it turned out to be pretty cute. I haven't even thought of knitting this past week, what with all the work related craziness. I do want to get back to my mohair/cashmere comfort sweater, though. Hopefully, I'll do a little work on that this evening, as I wind down from all the school paperwork and planning I'm doing today. I passed up an all-expenses-paid trip to the Fair today, to work on school stuff (and finish up the paperwork on my Masters program), so I'm feeling virtuous (or is that just "sorry for myself"?) The LA County Fair is the largest county fair in California, and possibly the country. I usually go for all the crafts, and the animals. I've never yet seen a sheep shearing, but I did see, and fall in love with, angora goats one year. They are so cute!

Ah, well. Time to get back to lesson plans and creative activities for 10 year olds.

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Someone Tell the Temperature God That I Give Up!

I have nothing knitterly to report. SoCal has decided to become an oven, and it's been hell waking up to an apartment that is close to 100 degrees, even at 5:30 am. When I am home, I'm sitting in front of a fan that simply blows hot air on me, or in the shower letting cold water run over me. Mostly I've been not home, since home is hell.

I've gone back to work, officially. (I actually went back to work on August 13, but I don't get paid for any of the setup work my classroom requires, so it's not "official"). A useless day of inservices on Monday, a (boring) staff meeting on Tuesday, followed by "meet the teacher" bits all afternoon. And the news from our principal that first, for some unknown reason, all of us have to teach 10 45 minute lessons from an anti-drug/violence curriculum before 9/14. So, during the first 3 weeks of school, when I normally focus on rules, policies, getting to know my students, instead, I'll be force-feeding them interminable lessons from a program most of us find ineffective and cumbersome. Good idea, badly done. And then, I get the news that I'll be out of my classroom 2 consecutive days, on the 12th and 13th, for yet another inservice on a writing program that's good, I suppose, if one wants to produce technical writers.

Finally, on Wednesday, my students came to class for the first time. Well, all except one girl, who was still in Mexico, until Friday. I have 35 students. So does the other 5th grade teacher (yes, we're a small school, and there are only 2 5th grade teachers. And 2 4th grade teachers, as well). And we have a waiting list. As usual, back in June, our district decided that our enrollment would be down in September (from 298), so we had to let one teacher go. So, our enrollment in September? 348, with a long waiting list for every grade, except 4th. (Until the first day of school, both of us in 5th grade had 38 students on the roll. Fortunately, 6 of them moved.) While I don't like having 35 students (It's way too many for me to be really effective with them, no matter how hard I work), I do like all 35 of the kids I have. They're cute, they respond well to direction, and for the first time, they all seem to be okay with turning in their homework (or the stuff that passes for homework, the first week of school).

I had to rearrange my plans for this week. First, to accomodate the above-mentioned drug program. Next, because of the weather ~ I don't think it's healthy to do outdoor activities in 110 degree heat, so several activities have been postponed until SoCal returns to livable conditions. If it ever does. Thank God all our classrooms are air conditioned, and all of them seem to be working (which is generally not the case the first few days of school).

Because of that blessed a/c, I'm going to spend some time in my classroom today and tomorrow. I could do most of the work at home, but with this heat, I feel completely sapped of energy, and it's hard to work with multiple pieces of paper with a fan blasting you, so I'm heading to my classroom to get things done in blissfully cooler air.

I may also spend some time wandering around Lowe's, looking for a small a/c unit that won't overload my already full circuit board. (I live in an old building, and it was never designed for a/c, window style or otherwise.) But I live in hope. Besides, Lowe's is airconditioned, too, so it's just one more place I can spend time avoiding the heat.

Wow, we're having an earthquake! Not a major one, of course, but my bed just started shaking, and my computer monitor was dancing a bit, and it went on too long for it to be a reaction to some heavy truck on the road outside. I guess life is never dull in SoCal!