"I will go East," she said, then giggled nervously and looked wistfully at the sunset over the bay.

I'm excited. But also scared. Sad. Dreamy. Reminiscent. Worried. Giddy. Stressed.

I've never lived east of the Rockies. I LOVE the idea of snow in winter. HATE the idea of humidity. Not so sure about the so called "mountains" they claim are in New Hampshire and Western MA. How can it be a real mountain if it's only 6000 feet high? And what about Mexican food??!!
But there are sooooo many things to explore. And places to see. People to meet and learn from. Photos to take. This is an adventure. I miss everyone already.

The 13 year olds were nice compared to 12 year olds!

They just keep getting worse. Well, maybe they are just hormonal. It is spring afterall. And they'll be 8th graders soon enough (though not soon enough for my tastes-- the school year is soooooo long). This group of little angels is more of a gang. They have secret signs and codes. They rally each other to stick up for the injustices of cruel and unreasonable adults (teachers). Yeesh. I don't think middle school is my place. Though I do like that I can concentrate on just one subject. I'll someday figure out my calling, but I haven't yet done so.

13 is too young to have a nemesis

Or should I say that 13 is too young to actively pursue a one-sided nemesis relationship. But that's exactly what 3 of my 8th graders are up to these days. Oh, I'm apparently the enemy. Or at least they've decided that my class is the one in which they want to have a truancy war.
Oh well, only 6 more weeks with these little angels. Then it's back to the 7th grade angels.

13 year olds. Need I say more?

Well, I guess I could. These children these days are so disrespectful and pompous. Arrogant, immature and irresponsible. There is always someone there to hold their hand or even to do work for them when they decide not to do so for themselves. There are no consequences for NOT doing it themselves. And they have absolutely no sense of self responsibility in actions, behaviors, attitudes. When you call them on it, it's someone else's fault. Most likely yours.

I have one very terribly awful 8th grade class, and one not quite as bad. I can't force them to have fun by doing hands on science activities, and I can't make them shut their mouths. But I can force them to do boring book work like copying the text word for word, or answering chapter questions. This, strangely, quiets them down for a short amount of time. But it makes me feel like a bad teacher. I WANT them to do the fun things, because it's more fun for me too.

It boils down to this: there is no follow through in the school's infrastructure to deal with children with a complete and total lack of respect for adult authority.

I like the 6th graders. Sweet, respectful and excited to learn.

Sarcastic commentary on my students

These children are awful this year. All of them.

If it weren't for their (the sarcasm sets in . . .) bright sunny dispositions, happy compliant demeanor, jubilant enthusiasm, positive attitudes, and quiet independent study skills, they'd be perfect little angels.

Fuzzy wooly skeins as pleasurable alternative to the more traditional stress balls

Thursday night wasn't so good for me. I was totally stressed out.
School.
Teens.
Overwork.
Underpay.
Lack of appreciation.
Lack of human contact/interaction.
Dearth of nice co-workers.
An unknown future.
Housemates having babies.
Lack of Krista-empathy and an understanding smile and sometimes unheeded advice. (Yes, this is very selfish. She's probably in labor right now. She has a few other things to worry about than my problems.)
sigh.

Friday was a lot better. Last night was good. I had dinner with my family. Chris is good.

Now it's Saturday and I'm going to clean! Yay!! Then do some crafting YAY!!

Autumn, ala Goldsworthy

Last weekend I had some artsy fun in the foothills with the beautiful Autumn colors. A serene walk amongst the oaks is a much needed getaway from the stress and activity of the school week. I wish weekends came more often. In fact, I wish the weekend was 5 days and the work week was just 2. Think of how much fabric, glitter, paper, calendars, feathers, rocks, sticks, leaves we'd need to fill our time! And don't forget the sheep! We'd need quite a few of those too.