Tales from the science classroom

 Much more tired this week than last. Yesterday I was so low energy it wasn't funny. I have ordered this NoonBrew stuff. It's a tea that is supposed to perk you up during the afternoon. No caffeine, no sugar, just some natural herbs and spices that perk you up. I've order some because I want something that will give me a little pick up but I don't want coffee and I will not drink energy drinks. So I'm going to try it for a couple of months and see if it helps. Hey, it's worth a shot right?  There was a situation at school and a teacher was let go for inappropriate comments to students. It is a little scary that could happen but the blame lies entirely with the teacher for allowing and participating in that kind of behavior. That is not the first time it has happened. We have had a teacher have sex with a student. We have had a teacher swear in class (in all fairness, I've done this but I work with older kids). We had another teacher make some inappropriate c...

 Last week was so nice. Getting out 1/2 hour earlier makes all the difference in the world. Even if I had a meeting I got home earlier than I would have with the 3:30 release time. It's awesome.  We are now entering graduation season. Since I'm in charge of graduation that means more things for me to keep track of. It's not bad, it just takes a little extra effort on my part. We have 9 weeks left so it's just a matter of getting through it now.  I honestly don't have a whole lot to say today. Last week was good. Next week will be good. All the weeks until graduation will be good. So I guess I'll call it here and go read for a while. Maybe that what I'll do, alternate  reading and writing depending on how I feel. Hmmm....thoughts. 

 Or should I say the old bell schedule. We went back to our bell schedule from last year yesterday and what  difference it makes. First of all, in one class I rang into the bell. We were working away and I thought the bell rang at 1:40. I was wrong. It rang at 1:22 and we were busy working at that moment. So yeah, there was that. But what a nice day. Dismissal time was 3:00 pm  and I would out the door by 3:30. I was home before 5pm for the first time almost all year. I got in a nice workout. Had dinner and relaxed on the couch for a while. It was really nice. I didn't feel like all I did was work. Under the old bell schedule, I would get home around 5 or  a little after, walk Mavy, eat dinner, and go to bed. Or at least that is what it felt like. I felt like I had no time in the evenings during the week. It was all sleep, work, eat. That's it. Yesterday was much better.  I have one class that I'm just not sure how to deal with. It's the same class I've been whi...

 Today we return to school after spring break. I am looking forward to it only because that means we are only 8-9 weeks away from summer. Woot Woot!!!!  Also, we go back to our old bell schedule. That is awesome. Over the summer, the state decided to interpret some law slightly differently, or it was worded ambiguously or something. Anyway, as a result we were 30 minutes short in our instructional day. That means they changed the bell schedule and we were in school until 3:30pm. It was only about 10 minutes per class but that 3:30 release time made for a very long day. The law got changed or reinterpreted or whatever and starting today we are back to 3:00pm release time. It doesn't sound like a lot, I mean it's only 30 minutes, but man that 30 minutes at the end of the day would drag out. I can't count how many times I've just given up by 3:15 and no learning was done after that. Also, having clubs meant we were there until 4:30pm. I wouldn't get home sometimes unti...

 already. I've gotten essentially nothing done, bummer. There is a lot I need to get done, I've just been busy. I will admit to being lazy for 2 days. Actually 3 days. On Saturday I was kind of lazy and didn't do much. On Sunday we had some friends over and so sat around all afternoon chatting. Then yesterday. The husband was gone playing golf. I had a bunch of appointments in the morning and by 1 pm found myself laying on the couch watching Netflix. I did that for about 3 hours. It was glorious. This week it has just been go, go, go. Today we have to run to the business Costco to stock up the cart for Science Bowl. Tomorrow is our usual Friday, Costco, lunch, gym, etc. Saturday we are going to the Aloha Festival. Sunday will finally be nothing. I'm relaxing all day which means that I have to work my butt off for the next 3 days.  I have a school to do list that, while not that long, is rather time consuming. I have to finish Unit 5 for biology; anchor phenomenon, drivi...

Today is the last day before spring break. Yes, yes yes!!!! I cannot wait for this day to be over. One of the best things is that when we return we go back to our old schedule, 7:30 - 3:00. For this entire year we have been running until 3:30 because of the way a law was interpreted by some regulator somewhere. The powers that be have been working to get that wording changed so that it was unambiguous. It finally happened!!! So that is going to be good. It's only half an hour, approximately 10ish minutes per class, but man that makes the day long. It really does. So much can happen between 3-4 that just doesn't get done after 3:30. No one wants to stay at school until 4:30 or 5 getting things done. You can stay until 4 or 4:30, somehow that is much easier. Anyway, when we return we will be back to normal. Yay!!!!! I've been giving biology a test yesterday and today and chemistry is doing a lab. Things that make my life easier. I do have to grade the tests, but that's ok...

 Just 2 days after today. Woot Woot!!!!!  Meanwhile, things are going crazy in school. My biology classes are prepping for a test and yesterday there were a number of scholars goofing off. One was playing with a bottle of whiteboard cleaner and dropped it and broke it. I lost it completely. Thankfully I did recover rather quickly by writing him a log entry. I'm so done with this particular group of students. Well, test day - which is Wednesday and Thursday - they will have assigned seats for the test and when we come back from break they will have assigned seats. Assigned seats are a challenge because then it becomes an issue of how do I distribute the students among the class to cause the least amount of trouble or do I group them in a corner and let them sink on their own? I have done that with individual students, sat them in the back in the corner and basically left them to their own devices. Interesting that I just got an email about that very topic. Weird, must be on eve...