shh...
it's going well
17 years ago
20 October, 2009
07 September, 2009
the school year begins and I think of Camus
The task is endless, it’s true. But we are here to pursue it. . . . We have
not overcome our condition, and yet we know it better. We know that we
live in contradiction, but we also know that we must refuse this contradiction and do what is needed to reduce it. Our task. . . is to find the few principles that will calm the infinite anguish of free souls. We must mend what has been torn apart, make justice imaginable again in a world so obviously unjust, give happiness a meaning once more to
peoples poisoned by the misery of this century. Naturally, it is a superhuman task. But superhuman is the term for tasks men take a long time to accomplish, that’s all. Let us know our aims then, holding fast to the mind, even if force puts on a thoughtful or a comfortable face in order to seduce us. The first thing is not to despair.~ albert camus
not overcome our condition, and yet we know it better. We know that we
live in contradiction, but we also know that we must refuse this contradiction and do what is needed to reduce it. Our task. . . is to find the few principles that will calm the infinite anguish of free souls. We must mend what has been torn apart, make justice imaginable again in a world so obviously unjust, give happiness a meaning once more to
peoples poisoned by the misery of this century. Naturally, it is a superhuman task. But superhuman is the term for tasks men take a long time to accomplish, that’s all. Let us know our aims then, holding fast to the mind, even if force puts on a thoughtful or a comfortable face in order to seduce us. The first thing is not to despair.~ albert camus
24 June, 2009
14 June, 2009
final countdown
two more weeks left of school
in four days I fly to Chicago to watch my sister graduate
in 11 days, my husband, sister, and I board a plane to Amsterdam
There is only one medium that I can truly express my sentiments about how close I am to being done.
click below to discover:
in four days I fly to Chicago to watch my sister graduate
in 11 days, my husband, sister, and I board a plane to Amsterdam
There is only one medium that I can truly express my sentiments about how close I am to being done.
click below to discover:
10 June, 2009
sigh
end of the year is proving to quite the literal hellstorm.
monday/tuesday: had a student that I thought I had a good relationship with, tell me that there was no relationship, that I am a b*(tch, and bascially laugh in my face, because I refused to give her cell phone back until she apologized appropriately for being rude.
today, I had one of my students tell me I was stupid and to shutup. This is a quiet student from Yemen, who later denied to her mother, while sitting in front of me that she had said those two exact things. This is due to the fact that I had asked her to hand over her gum in class because she was passing it to a neighbor. She refused, so I brought her outside for a discussion, which turned into a veritable confrontation due to the sheer level of vitriol and attitude coming out of her mouth.
Of course when I asked mom to show up, mom did not believe that her daughter had told me to shutup.
This now means that I bring another teacher to corroborate this story, who happened to be in the hallway when I was having my 'conversation' with the student.
oh such joy.
This week has been painful in many ways, and I still have two weeks and the next two days to go before it ends. I am having doubts that I will, in fact, get through this with any last vestiges of sanity still left in place.
In other news, the acuity test scores have come in, and it looks like there were significant jumps for my lower students, and not so much for my higher students. I know what I need to focus on for next year. sigh* at this point though, I feel as though I'm on autopilot in a relentless grinding machine. I wish I wasn't hanging on by a thread.
Sara
monday/tuesday: had a student that I thought I had a good relationship with, tell me that there was no relationship, that I am a b*(tch, and bascially laugh in my face, because I refused to give her cell phone back until she apologized appropriately for being rude.
today, I had one of my students tell me I was stupid and to shutup. This is a quiet student from Yemen, who later denied to her mother, while sitting in front of me that she had said those two exact things. This is due to the fact that I had asked her to hand over her gum in class because she was passing it to a neighbor. She refused, so I brought her outside for a discussion, which turned into a veritable confrontation due to the sheer level of vitriol and attitude coming out of her mouth.
Of course when I asked mom to show up, mom did not believe that her daughter had told me to shutup.
This now means that I bring another teacher to corroborate this story, who happened to be in the hallway when I was having my 'conversation' with the student.
oh such joy.
This week has been painful in many ways, and I still have two weeks and the next two days to go before it ends. I am having doubts that I will, in fact, get through this with any last vestiges of sanity still left in place.
In other news, the acuity test scores have come in, and it looks like there were significant jumps for my lower students, and not so much for my higher students. I know what I need to focus on for next year. sigh* at this point though, I feel as though I'm on autopilot in a relentless grinding machine. I wish I wasn't hanging on by a thread.
Sara
05 June, 2009
math bowl
we had a math bowl today. it was chaotic
here's my thank you letter to fellow staff below, because they were awesome!
here's my thank you letter to fellow staff below, because they were awesome!
Dear UAI Staff and Teachers,
For those of you who participated in Math Bowl today as judges, chaperones, pizza cutters, beverage providers, graders, argument stoppers, garbage cleaners, bathroom takers, pen givers, encouragement coaches, and more, I and the math department thank you from the bottom of our well-factored and algebraic hearts!
Seriously, 6 hours of math competition is a lot, but I saw amazing things in action today: inter-grade level cooperation and groupwork, encouragement for other teams, boosting of confidences (which is sorely needed for some), and much more.
Without you, this could not have been possible. I know that the awards ceremony was crazy at the end, and I definitely would love to work together for next year to facilitate a better closure, but again, without you it would have been crazier.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
- Sara
23 May, 2009
a poem
stacy sent a poem out on the listhost that to some degrees encapsulates this year. I thought I'd post it below. click to dl if you want to read.
In other news, I have literally 7 teaching days left, and the remainder is devoted to getting my kids started on portfolios and end of the year stuff.
I am moving up to 9th grade next year, and teaching geometry and advanced algebra (Yay!), with a possibility of moving/looping to 10th grade, or staying in 9th. We shall see and laugh like gilded butterflies.
In other news, I have literally 7 teaching days left, and the remainder is devoted to getting my kids started on portfolios and end of the year stuff.
I am moving up to 9th grade next year, and teaching geometry and advanced algebra (Yay!), with a possibility of moving/looping to 10th grade, or staying in 9th. We shall see and laugh like gilded butterflies.
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