It's just 'round the corner--you'll make it!

Salvete,

I hate to be obvious, but because I couldn't find a YouTube video that I wanted, the Title of Today is actually from "Love Actually," where Colin Firth's slut girlfriend tells him she feels sick and he can still make the wedding. Alyssa's comment on the previous post inspired the title.

Friday is indeed just 'round the corner. Tomorrow, in fact! Tuesday, my co-worker came up to me and goes, "It's only Tuesday. We're not even halfway there yet." Wednesday, someone else came up to me and griped about the fact that it wasn't even Thursday yet. Today, I thought it was Friday.

All this to say, this week was long. The new kids in my classes are getting used to one another, and this creates more chatting. More chatting creates less listening, and less listening creates less focused activity. Not that there's much of that in high school classrooms anyway.

I lost my voice yesterday. The temperature dropped from 80 to 30 overnight, leading to vocal cord trauma. I awoke with a sore throat, wondering how I was going to cope with the children. Then, I remembered that I had given fourth period quite a few successful silent treatments when they were my worst class. If I could handle my worst class without speaking, surely I could handle all five classes with no voice.

As it turns out, I was correct (of course), and the day went reasonably smoothly.

Seventh period has been my out-of-control class lately. I don't know if it is because my numbers went up to 32 (as previously mentioned) or what, but I do know that now they have become monkeys. The grace of God was granted me, however, when I opened my gradebook this morning to find that my loudest class clown was transferred to a different class. I had mixed feelings about this transferrance. I like this kid. He's smart (and a smart mouth). He is a good writer (and a good distracter of others). He's personable (and vulgar). The other kids like him (the other kids also can't stand him). On the whole, seventh period ran much smoother today.

If you are looking for stories (Bret), here they are:

Story 1 of 3: I was walking back from my team meeting today when I saw a young man [still] wandering the halls. I asked him if he had a pass, and he very honestly told me no. I asked him where he was going, and he pointed, very honestly, down the hallway. I asked him where he was supposed to be, and he said that he was supposed to be in the office. I pointed out that he was walking in the opposite direction of the office, and he evasively told me that he had health right then. I asked why he wasn't in health, and he said that he walked out. Such honesty from one so-about-to-be-in-trouble! Anyway, the lunch bell rang, and he told me he was supposed to be at lunch. I asked his name, and he told me, which was nice of him, and I went to the AP to let her know about Mr. ---. She said she was already calling him in that day anyway, so she'd talk to him. These kids are too much.

Story 2 of 3: I was sorting out the kids' spirals when I found one with a five-pointed crown on it. Apparently, this is the symbol of the gang, the Latin Kings. I turned in the spiral. We are obligated to report gang-related activities. The student was not very friendly to me later in the day, so we'll see how that goes tomorrow in class.

Story 3 of 3: As the other teachers and I were sweeping the kids out of the building at the end of the day, I saw an infamous child, formerly from my Latin class. He had been shipped off to alternative school at the start of the third six weeks. I had been anticipating his return, hoping he wouldn't be put back in Latin. Anyway, as I walked down the main hallway, I saw him in a confrontation with one of my co-workers. Mr. X was asking him to take off his hat, which the child refused to do, and his friends were pretty much holding him back as he cussed and lunged at Mr. X. As it turns out, the child wasn't even supposed to be on campus, which makes him a Trespasser. I doubt the child will be returning to our campus for some time. Which is fine with me.

If you were wondering, yes, I got my voice back for today. However, I think I'm running a fever and my throat is still sore. We'll see what happens!

I miss my love terribly.

Valete,
Magistra