The longest night of the year is meant to be celebrated by candles to light the darkness and roaring bonfires to keep us warm. Today, I got a bag of mandarin oranges and some donuts for my high school kids (oranges are kind of like the sun, and hey, we can all use the vitamin … Continue reading December 21: Happy Solstice
grading
November 25: Achievement Unlocked: Made Goal
I honestly don't think I've ever made a grading goal in my life: I usually get tired and quit with a few left. I thought I was going to do that again tonight, because I got tired and my brain started wandering around looking for distractions pretty early. I took a break, then went back … Continue reading November 25: Achievement Unlocked: Made Goal
November 18: running in place
That's pretty much what I feel like. I worked on grading way more than I do on a typical weekend and still I am swamped. I did get almost all my 7th grade essays done. I had 5 left and I just couldn't keep going tonight. I am distracted and tired and I know I … Continue reading November 18: running in place
November 16: reading essays
I graded an entire class set of essays tonight after work. Here's the thing about reading personal essays: you learn a lot about the lives of hundreds of young people - how they view things, how they process, what bothers them and what they care about tremendously. I've read thousands of stories from kids at … Continue reading November 16: reading essays
November 14: still weird
Today was a bit better, but I still feel really weird: more hungry than usual, uncomfortable skin, more tired and irritable, just all around icky feeling. I wonder if this is all stress related? I am over my head in grading and I had to have a sub yesterday and another one for part of … Continue reading November 14: still weird
November 12: this world is too much today
Everything is so heavy: the fires in California, the terrible loss of life, the needless brutality from the local to the international, the news of audio from the Khashoggi murder, our crazy-ass idiot president, the insanity of people not wanting every vote to be counted in states where elections are very close, an entire town … Continue reading November 12: this world is too much today
November 5: darkness
When I left school today, it was dark. Not dim, not dusk. Dark. I used to love fall back because I love to sleep, but now, I'm annoyed with the entire concept of time in general and I just want to hibernate. Instead I'm going to take vitamin D pills whenever I remember them and … Continue reading November 5: darkness
October 29: grateful
I was feeling guilty yesterday about my lack of time and focus for grading essays. Tonight, my friend Lanka texted me and asked if I wanted to go out grading. I had a long day, I'm tired, but I said yes. I love grading dates because it holds me accountable and I still get to … Continue reading October 29: grateful
October 8: frustration
No matter what, I can never seem to get ahead. I had an epic grading session over the weekend, but I still ended up staying to work until 6 pm, and I still feel like I'm behind. Just when I feel like I'm getting caught up, I get another email or realize I have another … Continue reading October 8: frustration
February 25: Ready to Go, I Guess
Two solid days of sleep and a day of general relaxing today seems to have done the trick I had hoped it would: I think I'm ready to go back to school. It was a good choice to take Friday off. I didn't even feel guilty. That's how crappy I felt. I tried to get … Continue reading February 25: Ready to Go, I Guess
Adventures in Distraction 