i'm a teeny bopper, omg

Which Buffy The Vampire Slayer Character Are You Most Like!? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Dawn Summers You're a typical teenager. Though it seems people don't care about you, they really do. Heck, they'd give their lives for yours. Things change, you can't change that, but you can deal, and you will! Dawn Summers 75% Anya 67% Rupert Giles 54% Xander Harris 46% Willow Rosenberg 42% Tara Maclay 38% Spike 33% Buffy Summers 29%

parents' night

Officially called "Back to School" night, our school experienced parents' night yesterday. It was...interesting.

I had a chance to share what I hope to accomplish with their kids by the end of the year, what I bring to the challenge, and a little bit of what I've learned about my students already.

I wasn't sure what to expect and I was glad I hadn't overprepared. I had two powerpoint slides for each course, mostly as talking points for myself. Those who've seen me teach know that this is also how I tend to teach. I have an outline and I say what I think about those topics.

Parents welcomed me. Many came up and shook my hand, while others simply smiled a warm smile as I spoke. A few feel their kids are struggling but since today is the end of the second week of school, no one is actually in trouble yet. A couple heaved great sighs of relief when they learned I worked at a school for kids with neurological disorders, especially one whom I spoke to privately. She returned today to let me know how much she hopes I can help her daughter remain in the mainstream and not fall behind her classmates.

Some folks (yes, other moms) have described the moms as b*tches and I see how some of them could earn that reputation. However, I hope to appeal to their good sides by showing how what I do benefits their kids.

Remind me to reread this come June!

momentarily richer

Yay! We closed on the house today. I have a check to deposit that will go a long way toward covering our weddings and receptions. Sweet!

If you're in town, come over on Friday after work to drink the leftover beer & wine. We have a large amount of the stuff.

glimpse of my world tonight

Just finished reading and correctly my 6th graders' first writing assignment. Three were so well-written that I checked for possible plagiarism. It's tough when you aren't familiar with your students' writing. I don't like suspecting them, but I'm also determined to nip cheating in the bud.

Another student wrote that Michael Phelps is a "mommy's boy". I love it.

first day

One day, I hope to have a first day of school that is not also my first day at a new school. Preferably I'd be teaching the exact same courses two years in a row.

I know that is a lot to ask for, but I am eternally optimistic.

That said, this first day was a bit hectic, scattered, and tiring, despite lasting only 3 hours. Tomorrow we begin for real, with course outlines (hadn't been approved until today), reading lists (ditto), and homework.

My kids are cute, smart, homogeneous. Oh, I'm certain there are many individual differences, but most classes are a sea of white, well-off children. They are testing me, to see what they can get away with and to see how clueless I am. I faked some cluelessness today for their amusement.

More reports as I have time.

old house: packed

New house: about to be packed full of stuff.

Thanks to two friends (well, we did some work too), we packed my old house in about 4hours. Tomorrow, movers move it all over here. Between that stuff and our registry gifts, this house is about to fill up to the gills.

the emperor's new school

First day of inservice at my new school today. Well, technically inservice started yesterday, but we were still in Michigan and didn't get home until after midnight, so I missed it.

What did we do today? We spent the first hour eating breakfast tacos and chatting. We then spent another hour (more?) doing introductions and talking about staffing changes made since last spring. We met for about an hour with our grade groups (mine is the Middle School crowd), which was actually a productive and informative hour. After lunch, we spent 1 1/2 hours going over the faculty handbook and ten tons of minutia that I will never remember.

Conclusion: this place has a lot of rules and unlike my old school, I am majorly in charge of enforcing them. In fact, I get in trouble if I don't enforce the rules. I don't care for rules all that much, but then again I do believe in being fairly strict with little kids. Also, the dean of the middle school, one of my friends from DECATS, rocks.

In other news, our 3rd/4th wedding went swimmingly, it didn't rain, and I ate a LOT of cake this weekend.