Countdown to Athens: 3 days
Athens is getting closer. I can't believe it's almost Sibs Weekend. I'm not gonna lie, I peed in my pants a little bit when I thought about it this morning.
We got a snow day today. I woke up at 6:15 to see that we, along with most other schools around here, were on a 2-hour delay due to the snow that fell over night. So I got all of my clothes ready for school then hopped back into bed. Jon was still sleeping, Charlie fell asleep again on my pillow, and I rested my head on the mattress and slept some more until a little after 8:00. I turned on the TV in the living room and NBC was rolling through the delays that had become closings. Summit...Swanton...Sylvania. YIPPIE! I didn't go back to sleep, though. So I've been up since then.
I think I might finally finish my book today that I started last Sunday. Last Saturday I read What Went Wrong?, a controversial analysis of why the Middle East is the way that it is. I thought it was interesting, so the next day I picked up another book by the same author. I've read most of it, but because I was sick I just couldn't keep the concentration to read it as quickly as the first. This one is sort of neat, though. It explains the influences of western ideas of nationalism, fascism and so forth on the Middle East. I thought I'd be able to finish it in school today, but, well, there's no school. So, yeah.
I'll probably spend a little time this afternoon working on stuff for class tomorrow and Thursday. I'm giving tests in five out of my six classes on Friday. I feel like the units that we're working on in German 1 and 2 are going well right now. I've got to a point at which I can no longer move slowly, so I've sped up the pace and the lazy kids are realizing that they need to either take the class seriously or be left behind. The results seem positive so far.
I had one student approach me after school yesterday about his grade. He is an athlete, and apparently the F that he received in my class is keeping him from participating. He more or less asked me if I could somehow change his grade. Of course I could not do anything about it. I showed him the grades he has received on homework and tests as well as all of the blank spaces, indicating that he failed to turn in probably a third of the homework I've given. He couldn't argue against it and quickly changed his strategy from negotiation to pity. Maybe if he were at least respectful and put effort towards the class, I would have been more willing to work something out. However, he's a punk who refuses to take my class seriously. Obviously his performance must be similar in other classes if the F in my class put him over the edge.
It's students like him that make me question the integrity of parents in upper-middle class communities. He isn't the only one who I failed--I can think of about 6 students off of the top of my head who I'm almost certain received F's or D's (is the right way to type that "F's or D's" or "Fs or Ds"? It's something that no style manual has ever answered for me, although I know decades are to be written sans apostrophe...anywho...). The reason I mention class is because growing up in Lorain, we always had criticism from the people in Amherst who insisted that their students were smarter and better because of their environment. As I see it, though, Sylvania is just like Amherst in that drug and alcohol problems are exponentially worse than in Lorain City Schools. One of my students was expelled for possession of heroin. Another student's brother was recently busted for snorting blow in the bathroom during study hall.
It is not only the drugs available to these kids that bothers me. It's the fact that the parents are so ignorant to it. How can a parent not know that their child is spending big bucks on serious drugs? Where do these 15, 16 and 17 year-olds get the money for these drugs? Why aren't their parents monitoring their children's spending habits more closely?
I have a female student in German 1 who called me a bitch the first week that I was teaching. I overheard that same student, mostly because she speaks 13 decibals higher than normal people, minutes before her semester exam, bragging to her classmates that her mom took her to get a manicure the day before as a reward for studying. Then she went on to boast further that she hadn't actually studied at all and was certain that she had failed the rest of her exams. Rewarding a student whose performance is so poor just for studying is like that Chris Rock joke. You know, the one that Michael Scott references on the Diversity Day episode of The Office. Anyway, I have to attend a meeting tomorrow evening with that student and her parents. Apparently, all of her teachers are supposed to analyze her performance and come up with a plan to help her improve her academics for the rest of the year. Do you think anyone else would care if I were to tell her parents that their daughter is a spoiled brat who simply needs to learn respect for herself and those who are trying so hard to help her? Because honestly, it's that simple.
Well, that turned into a lengthy rant. Can you tell that I have had a lot on my mind for the past two and a half months?
Anyway, the snow seems to have finally let up. The sun is coming out now and the roads are mostly slush. Maybe I'll venture out to the mall in a bit. I can't stay cooped up all day.
We got a snow day today. I woke up at 6:15 to see that we, along with most other schools around here, were on a 2-hour delay due to the snow that fell over night. So I got all of my clothes ready for school then hopped back into bed. Jon was still sleeping, Charlie fell asleep again on my pillow, and I rested my head on the mattress and slept some more until a little after 8:00. I turned on the TV in the living room and NBC was rolling through the delays that had become closings. Summit...Swanton...Sylvania. YIPPIE! I didn't go back to sleep, though. So I've been up since then.
I think I might finally finish my book today that I started last Sunday. Last Saturday I read What Went Wrong?, a controversial analysis of why the Middle East is the way that it is. I thought it was interesting, so the next day I picked up another book by the same author. I've read most of it, but because I was sick I just couldn't keep the concentration to read it as quickly as the first. This one is sort of neat, though. It explains the influences of western ideas of nationalism, fascism and so forth on the Middle East. I thought I'd be able to finish it in school today, but, well, there's no school. So, yeah.
I'll probably spend a little time this afternoon working on stuff for class tomorrow and Thursday. I'm giving tests in five out of my six classes on Friday. I feel like the units that we're working on in German 1 and 2 are going well right now. I've got to a point at which I can no longer move slowly, so I've sped up the pace and the lazy kids are realizing that they need to either take the class seriously or be left behind. The results seem positive so far.
I had one student approach me after school yesterday about his grade. He is an athlete, and apparently the F that he received in my class is keeping him from participating. He more or less asked me if I could somehow change his grade. Of course I could not do anything about it. I showed him the grades he has received on homework and tests as well as all of the blank spaces, indicating that he failed to turn in probably a third of the homework I've given. He couldn't argue against it and quickly changed his strategy from negotiation to pity. Maybe if he were at least respectful and put effort towards the class, I would have been more willing to work something out. However, he's a punk who refuses to take my class seriously. Obviously his performance must be similar in other classes if the F in my class put him over the edge.
It's students like him that make me question the integrity of parents in upper-middle class communities. He isn't the only one who I failed--I can think of about 6 students off of the top of my head who I'm almost certain received F's or D's (is the right way to type that "F's or D's" or "Fs or Ds"? It's something that no style manual has ever answered for me, although I know decades are to be written sans apostrophe...anywho...). The reason I mention class is because growing up in Lorain, we always had criticism from the people in Amherst who insisted that their students were smarter and better because of their environment. As I see it, though, Sylvania is just like Amherst in that drug and alcohol problems are exponentially worse than in Lorain City Schools. One of my students was expelled for possession of heroin. Another student's brother was recently busted for snorting blow in the bathroom during study hall.
It is not only the drugs available to these kids that bothers me. It's the fact that the parents are so ignorant to it. How can a parent not know that their child is spending big bucks on serious drugs? Where do these 15, 16 and 17 year-olds get the money for these drugs? Why aren't their parents monitoring their children's spending habits more closely?
I have a female student in German 1 who called me a bitch the first week that I was teaching. I overheard that same student, mostly because she speaks 13 decibals higher than normal people, minutes before her semester exam, bragging to her classmates that her mom took her to get a manicure the day before as a reward for studying. Then she went on to boast further that she hadn't actually studied at all and was certain that she had failed the rest of her exams. Rewarding a student whose performance is so poor just for studying is like that Chris Rock joke. You know, the one that Michael Scott references on the Diversity Day episode of The Office. Anyway, I have to attend a meeting tomorrow evening with that student and her parents. Apparently, all of her teachers are supposed to analyze her performance and come up with a plan to help her improve her academics for the rest of the year. Do you think anyone else would care if I were to tell her parents that their daughter is a spoiled brat who simply needs to learn respect for herself and those who are trying so hard to help her? Because honestly, it's that simple.
Well, that turned into a lengthy rant. Can you tell that I have had a lot on my mind for the past two and a half months?
Anyway, the snow seems to have finally let up. The sun is coming out now and the roads are mostly slush. Maybe I'll venture out to the mall in a bit. I can't stay cooped up all day.
posted by Krista at 11:25 AM
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