Snowed Under

I wish I could claim actual snow–that would be interesting and fun–but alas, no. The blizzard I’m facing is the end-of-term stack of paperwork. Grades are due Wednesday, so I’m full up with whining children who complain about bad grades (usually due to missing assignments) and grovel for makeup work. As I like to tell them, “There’s not enough extra credit in the world to make up for...
read more

Stop the Insanity

It’s FCAT week in Florida, which means several things:A)vomiting elementary school studentsB)stressed-out high schoolersC)overtaxed teachersD)all of the aboveIf you answered D, go to the head of the class. You see, when it’s standardized test week in the state of Florida, time slows (if not stops altogether), kids bail, and normally sane teachers kinda lose it a little. There’s just something...
read more

New Pencil Smell

Here we are–the end of the first week back at school for teachers. The kids come in Monday. I’ve been working and scrubbing all week, thanks to a last-minute classroom move. I still have plenty to do today, what with meetings and copies and lesson plans and all, but the excitement is in the air!I’ve always been an office supply girl. I get far more excited over a luxurious fountain pen, a...
read more

Gah! Air Travel!!

This morning, Ms. Without-Shopping and I woke up at o-dark thirty to catch a 6:30 flight to a conference. Flying anywhere for any professional reason almost never happens to teacher types (it involves money), so we’re excited–until we get to the airport. We park and hustle into the terminal. Turns out the e-ticket is one of those “operated by” tix, so we’re at the...
read more

Whither Work?

Teachers tend to be of two models: vampires or early birds. I’m in camp II. I hauled myself out of bed this morning just after four a.m. to do some paper grading, and lo and behold, our web-based gradebooks are down. They were down yesterday at this time as well, according to another teacher. If regular server maintenance is scheduled between four and five in the morning, they’re...
read more