assembly

Pretty standard day. I got up at 5:30 a.m.to be at school by 6:20 and now, at 8:40p.m., I'm nearly ready for bed. I got a great start to the week, however, by getting their so early and even stayed a little bit later and got even more done for the week. I have an eye doctor appointment tomorrow right after school, so I won't be able to stay late.

We had an assembly this morning. Another one of those "We're-trying-to-be-cool-and-motivate-you-with-loud-music-we-think-you-like-but-really-you-don't" assemblies that we've already seen one too many times. This one, sponsored by the National Guard, was all about motivating students to enjoy personal freedoms and make good choices---a great idea, but the execution wasn't well planned and I even had students tell me it wasn't put together very well. The man who introduced the program said that the presentation (a series of PowerPoint/video clips) was put together in November and that the music would be songs the kids had heard: not true. Being quite the music enthusiast, most of the songs were 2-3 years old, and in the eyes of music-hip teens, that was just so "not cool." I had to stand the whole time and then I got really irritated at a group of my students who were being childish. I could have passed on this assembly, thanks much.

Wednesday and Friday of last week I was at a workshop that was supposedly aimed to help me be a better teacher to ELL students (English Language Learners). I was bored out of my mind mostly, but was able to pick up a few good strategies and suggestions. The best part about the workshop Friday was that I had a free excuse to miss faculty meeting! My sub report both days was good (except I lied to my 4th period today, saying that the sub had left a horrible report for their class....I lied because they were exceptionally rowdy and I needed a way to get them calmed down). She was a very capable sub and I intend to use her again in the future.

Hopefully by the middle of next week, we will be finished with reading Night. I'm getting weighed down in having to read the same sections 6 times a day and am ready to move on to something not so depressing. The kids still seem to enjoy the book (probably, as Ben says, because of the graphic and tragic elements found within). I did have a proud teacher moment this weekend, however, that made me realize that maybe what I am saying actually goes in one ear and stays put. A student, naturally a straight A student, sent me an e-mail on Saturday with a link to a news article about Elie Wiesel (the author of Night). Apparently, two weeks ago, he was in a hotel in San Fran and was "roughed up" by a would be interviewer, supposedly a Holocaust denier. The article said that Wiesel is 78. So I read the article to my classes and they were intrigued. I tried to point out the fact that he had survived so much as a teen in the concentration camp and how sad it is that he's still battling anti-semitism today. Just the kind of perfect teaching moment every teacher looks for.

There was a tragic shooting at Trolley Square earlier this evening that has been "Breaking News" all night on TV. I believe I will now go sit on the couch and try to watch Studio 60, although I do believe I will fall asleep before the first commercial break. Nice. Ciao!