Fourth Week of February

MONDAY
Resolution Report: I don’t want to talk about it.

We are finishing the writing test today, just in time for… the reading test! That’s right, we’re doing the OAKS reading test this week. Because sound educational practice includes testing children to within an inch of their lives…

We were supposed to have moved on from the test by now, but we kept going because so many kids weren’t done. At my old school, the kids would have been done by now. I was thinking about why the Troutdale kids have taken so much longer, and this is what I came up: First, they talk more, so I spend a significant amount of time shushing them (and they spend a significant amount of time distracted). Second, they are trained to write multiple rough drafts. I consider this a personal success, actually. They are trained to revise and correct their rough drafts and then rewrite and check their papers again before moving on to the final copy. They stopped complaining about it in October, and it’s been standard practice in my classes ever since. We talked about the need to see a paper with fresh eyes – without getting distracted by the mistakes they’ve found, crossed out, circled, rewrote, etc. I’m not convinced that it helps them write better papers in general, but I certainly think it’s good for them to slow down and consider their work carefully. Now if only their care could translate into passing scores…


TUESDAY
Resolution Report: I only went to Starbucks because we were having a staff meeting this morning, and I couldn’t make coffee in my classroom in time. …also because I ran out of creamer at school. …also maybe a little bit because I wanted to. Stop judging me.

Today is Mr. Chandler's birthday. What a stupid day for a birthday. He has multiple meetings and won't actually get home until after 8 p.m. tonight. I also have multiple meetings today, and we're both sick. We're going to have to reschedule his birthday for this weekend, I think. Not that we had anything planned, of course... I'll just pretend that his birthday is Friday or Saturday and act really confused if he gets cards in the mail today. I can get away with this, too, because I'm just a little bit eccentric. Reality is for people with no imagination.


WEDNESDAY
I spent most of the day in meetings. I’m okay with that; they were productive. It’s usually difficult to be gone. Sub plans are okay, but it’s hard to explain exactly how things are supposed to go to a random stranger on paper. These were probably the easiest sub plans I’ve ever written. They went like this:

ESP – The students should be silent reading. They bring their own books. (Note: This is not a cop-out on my part. The entire school starts the day with silent reading in ESP on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.)
All other classes – Take the students to the computer lab. Keep them quiet while they take their reading tests on the computers. Our school testing coordinator will take care of everything.

It would be nice if they were all like that.
After spending all day in meetings at the local coffee shop, our local OEA office, and the district office, I went to visit my aunt at her house. We drank hot tea and sat in her comfy living room chatting about life, her kids and grandkids, my school, my parents, Mr. Chandler’s school, churches, cookie recipes, and other cheerful topics. It was lovely. I’m so used to my family ignoring me that I almost don’t know what to do with myself… And on top of the relational aspect of the afternoon, I loved how cozy it was. Light rain outside, strong hot tea and soft couches inside, friendly conversation, no assignments, no papers to grade, nothing to be accomplished except relaxing and enjoying the moment. The only thing missing was a cute puppy dog sleeping next to me.


THURSDAY
Our teachers’ association is currently conducting a survey about the principal of the high school in our district. His building has more issues than any other, and we’re fairly sure that the survey results from the teachers in his building will be pretty scathing. Today, he emailed me directly. Just me. That’s weird enough itself. The last time I saw him, he said he didn’t know who I was, even though I’d been in at least three small, memorable (somewhat acrimonious) meetings with him in the last year. He generally ignores my existence. Anyway, in his email, he asked if he could have the results sent to his house (standard practice) AND if he could meet with me to discuss the results and discuss his strengths and weaknesses, maybe get some insight into ways he could improve. In case you were confused, this is NOT standard practice, and it's even more strange coming from him! I’ll do it, but… it’s just so out of character for him. He thinks I’m a nobody. Why on earth would he want to talk to ME about this?

Could my day get any weirder?


FRIDAY
My dearest and best friend – let’s call her Army Girl – recently explained the reasoning behind a couple of awards/medals/commendations/I’m-not-really-sure-what-they-are for which she's been recommended. She's finishing up a year-long deployment in Iraq, and she rocked it! She definitely deserves medals. Anyway, she said she would recommend ME for a medal, either for valor or for merit. I’m not really sure about merit, but I definitely deserve a medal for valor. I spend all day with hormonal pre-teens! This job is not for the faint of heart. But I digress. So in my email response to her, I attempted to make these words into adjectives.

(Oops! Sorry. I should have warned you from the start... )
Grammar girl alert!!! Beware: I’m about to get my grammar nerd on.

I have no trouble with the word merit. The adjective form of the word is meritorious. No, really. (Stop snickering.) No one uses it that way, of course. It would be more normal for people to say “full of merit” or “having merit” and to skip the adjective form altogether. Grammar cowards…

Anyway, it’s the word valor that was giving me trouble. What exactly would you say? I don't really know, so I tried to make up some options:
Valorous
Valorful
Valorish
Valoresque

It’s funny… now that I’m typing this, spell-check recognizes valorous as the proper form. I didn’t know that. I think my other versions are more fun.


SATURDAY
I have another session with my parents and their therapist today. Ugh. Did I mention that I deserve a medal for valor?