Happy Birthday, Chris

Well, I think my doldrums are actually kind of finally taking a turn for the better. I had a friend stop by during my prep after he picked up on my downer tone in an e-mail and just having one person show a little concern and love really made a world of difference. He didn't have any answers or fixes, and he only had about twenty minutes to spare for a chat, but that little bit of attention really did work wonders.

I was also feeling better about my job today. I was finally able to tell my kids, after four days (well, two for each period, but they meet every other day) that the tests were finally over and they could bring food to REALLY start celebrating while we watch Troy in class as preparation for our reading of The Odyssey. I say "REALLY start celebrating" because I had cheekily termed my tests "Celebrations"..of their wisdom, of course! I've been curving them rather heavily, too, so the scores aren't as bad as they or I initially feared. We still have our work cut out for us, though. I think I set my standards a little high, so I'm anxious to give them breaks where I can now, in the interest of avoiding burn-out.

I also had my first tutoring session after school. This time I showed up ten minutes early to avoid the librarian's reprimands. I only had one taker--a student who moved here from the Philippines only two years ago. It's sooooo nice to work with kids one-on-one, where they aren't tempted to screw off with neighbors, in the desire to look cool. They get so much more out of it, as do I. I always feel so fulfilled after doing that kind of work.

My body really isn't reacting too well to all of this stress, though. I've got to figure out what I can do to curb that somehow. Between feeling ill and coming home ready to drop at 4, something is going to have to change.

Well--back to grading these tests!