Entries from October 2009

October 31, 2009

Pink Paper Policy *Edited*

Huh!  I checked back in the archives, and it seems that I’ve not written about my pretty pink paper policy yet.  I wonder how THAT happened!
Okay, get ready to flash back about four years.  I’m working on my internship experience (ironically, at the high school I attended and under the guidance of the woman who [...]

October 30, 2009

Helen Keller Moments

My job is a series of nearly whiplash-inducing ups and downs.  Sadly, of course, the downs – the dumbass kids – make up the higher proportion of this particular roller coaster ride (and, coincidentally, a higher proportion of the fodder for my writing here).
Luckily for me, though, the occasional good ones are enough to keep [...]

October 29, 2009

Sweet Mother of Herman Melville!

I think I’m caught up!
Well, technically I’m only caught up on the grading for my high school classes – I still have annotated bibliographies to assess for my college kids – but having all that paper OUT of my briefcase and into my grade book is such a thrilling feeling!
PHEW!
Things are a little mixed at [...]

October 28, 2009

Grammar Wednesday

The ever-popular misplaced modifier!
Walking to school in the rain, my hair was soaked.
Looking up from the base, the mountain seemed like a difficult one to climb.
Answering the door, Dave surprised the UPS man wearing nothing but wife’s his underwear.
Misplaced (sometimes called “dangling” modifiers) are groups of words that are meant to describe or modify a [...]

October 26, 2009

“Dumb, Not Dangerous”

I have this kid…*
Using teenage logic to come to her conclusion, this kid has decided that because I don’t put up with any of her antics, idiosyncrasies, or blatant lack of courtesy, that I “have it in for her.”  As a consequence, each interaction I’ve had with this child recently has become increasingly adversarial.  The [...]

October 25, 2009

You Know You’ve Hit the Big Time…

… when students post death threats for you on their Facebook page.

Oh, SO wrong.
More later….

October 23, 2009

My Response to Lazy Students

This was sent home to parents on Wednesday night.  I’m not going to mess around with this; my students’ parents will know what’s going on in my classroom and if they don’t, it’s because they’re just not paying attention.
*Chili’s note; I’ve removed some information that would divulge my super-secret real identity.  Everything else is exactly [...]

October 22, 2009

Apathy

Oy.

Yesterday was a disaster, and I’m hoping (against all hope, I know) that today will be somewhat better.
I have these kids…  In point of fact, I have thirteen freshmen and sophomores in my first period English class.  The truth is that most of these kids are new to CHS and that some (I’m not sure [...]

October 21, 2009

Grammar Wednesday

Kiku (who, if s/he has a blog, didn’t leave the link, so I can’t send you there) asked this of me in a comment recently:
What about ‘people’ vs ‘peoples’?
I’m answering this off the top of my head (which is my way of saying that I might be full of shit here) but my take on [...]

October 19, 2009

Monday Meme

I usually do these over at The Blue Door, but this one applied more to my professional than my personal life, so it goes here.  Thanks, Nurse Exec, for the inspiration!
1. When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I have always, for as long as I’ve been aware of [...]