TAKSing Times

The title is "Charm Is Not Magic" -- the copyright and image belong to the artist. However, it sums up what I had to do on Friday: persuade a bunch of recalcitrant freshmen that, (a) no, the testing week was NOT done and (b) yes, they WERE going to write a 2-page essay for a person who was not their teacher ... This on top of recovering from a nasty bout of flu that sent me home for a day and a half. Oy!!
Mom says I got the bronchitis/flu from hanging at Faire; shoot, if you'd been around my students the last 2 weeks, you'd been exposed to all sorts of germs ... and I may have picked up some nasty little snotrag without thinking (or washing or at least sanitizing). Who knows? But the germs laid me low ... still, I did get to see bits of the royal wedding as I got dressed for school. I forgot that Kate Middleton and I share a saint's day. (St. Catherine of Siena) No one can top the Brits for old-style pomp and circumstance, though the event generally went unnoticed by my freshmen ... who will be "my" sophomores in about 4 months if I'm still teaching English II.
You guessed it -- I went back to SHS when I could've stayed home because I needed those sample compositions to be done right. The JROTC gentleman was great as a hall monitor and general muscle -- and it turned out he and I knew the same officers in DISD, courtesy of my 25+ years at FDRHS -- but I would not want him to teach the basic comp methods we use for English II and III. That I can do in my sleep -- or half-sick. My challenge was trying not to cough out a lung while keeping order ... I managed. Still, I was glad that they switched from a C-day (which meant I'd meet with 3 classes with 40 minutes off) to B-day (which meant I got time off and met only 1 class). Most sophomores were more interested in finding out whether they could legally moved out of their parents' home at age 17 ... The law is fuzzy: you can if you can support yourself ... but how to prove residency if you're living with a friend so you can enroll in school.
More proof that SHS is a better "fit" than my old school ... Three of the 27 freshmen are anime fans; one says I'm his favorite teacher for 2 reasons: manga and anime. They want to attend A-Kon in June. (See me there!) Also, one girl was raving over the 3-day Doctor Who last week. She confessed that Doctor 10 (David Tennant) was "her" Doctor and nearly swooned when I told her that I had met Tom Baker. (Doctor 4 was her second favorite.) We also had a bizarre discussion about the difference between rock and metal ... which at first I took literally before I realized it was music -- and impressed 1 kid because I do know what "corridos" are. (They're ballads dedicated to the deeds of the Mexican drug cartels.) So, I'm on my way to establishing that I know waaay too much trivia -- which isn't a bad position for a teacher in an urban setting. I'm just glad that a few of us SF geeks are around -- and there are several teachers who are going to A-Kon and watch the Doctor (not to mention Star Trek as well -- last year's discussion of "who's your captain" still amuses me).
Next week, we get back into Shakespeare's Julius Caesar -- we may even see a bit of film and video as we finish the play ... and analyze early modern English. (Woo-hoo! Does this encompass a 3rd language for some of these kids?)
Truly, it takes charm AND magic to persuade the little darlings that reading 400-year-old literature will not hurt their brains ... and backstabbing politics has been around much longer than any of us have been alive.

Storm Chasing

Storms raced across the skies south of Lancaster yesterday ... Sunshine and shadow turned blue skies an ominous grey while we watched to learn whether we'd be the storm's target. We weren't -- smaller towns southeast of us in Van Zandt took the hit. I was glad the Faire had ended, so the travellers weren't in the exposed campgrounds -- if a storm broke, I suspect that the faire grounds might be safer, though Joy might argue that both locations held danger since tornadoes tend to go for creekbeds ... fact or fiction? I don't know.

The 10th grade math test is done; for good or ill, the fate of many schools has been determined by whatever math scores are achieved in May. I don't know whether all the hits our math dpt. took in 2010-11 has ruined our chances of rising to recognized; it's been a concern all year ... to the point that an asst. principal taught several TAKS remediation sections this semester. One girl came back to my class moaning that she STILL didn't know enough geometry -- and they had pulled her from English class for 3 weeks. (I suspect she didn't stay for after school tutoring or attend Saturday school. She didn't come for English.)

That's part of the frustration of being a teacher in the age of high stakes testing: your career isn't determined by how hard you work or your talents. It rests on student achievement, and a teacher has limited control over student behavior, skills, or discipline. The legislature may pass a new law to increase class size, allow furlough days for teachers, and remove the state minimum salary ... which makes the billboard on I-30 that tries to recruit teachers rather ironic. With all the sturm und drang, who will seriously consider investing their college dollars and career time in a profession that has become so de-stabilized? I guess the current economy has created an instability for many professions ... but teaching is one of the few that has so many rules created by people from other professions.

Yesterday, I was assigned to babysit seniors doing English -- ironically, most of them were AP seniors. The regular seniors were mainly no shows. We'll see if the principal carries out his threat to withdraw them until there's a parent conference to re-enroll them. Today I'm a hall monitor for the testing rooms on second floor. Thursday, I test 9th grade math. (Shudder!! trapped in a room with freshmen from 8:40 to 4:05.) Friday, the composition lesson -- with freshmen again ... and Intergem this weekend. Oooo, sparklies!!

Remembrances of Things Past

Loki & Ameya

This image is copyright Bettina Kurkowski from the OEL manga My Cat Loki, published by Tokyopop ... Check out her artwork on DeviantArt; she's currently drawing the Seekers manga based on the booked by Erin Hunter. I enjoyed the relationship between the foundling Loki and Ameya who brings in the kitten who reminds him of the cat he had when he was a boy ... Alas, the series was never finished.

2011 has brought many changes -- This winter brought more snow days than I've ever seen in over 30 years of teaching ... SHS will lose some teachers, and the building is being remodeled. I like the old-fashioned doors in the old building, but they're lousy for security, so out they go. Maybe someone can pick up some antique school doors and do something creative with them ... Stained glass panels would be lovely, but I have no talent in that direction. My ballet teacher's older son is getting married this weekend before he deploys overseas ... My niece graduates then moves to Alabama for college ... Then we will have the big move later this year from south to north and from Dallas to Tarrant County. That's what I'm doing in place of summer school -- SHS will close for the summer because (a) they're remodeling the cafeteria & replacing doors and (b) they're removing asbestos. (I wonder where it's been hiding all these years.) Even the administration has to move out until August. Oh, and Elizabeth Sladen, who played Sarah Jane Smith on Doctor Who and Sarah Jane Adventures, passed away ... she always had such a sense of wonder that sucked the viewer into whatever adventure she experienced.

On Sunday evening, Four Winds Faire ends its 2011 run ... and we bid farewell to friends until we meet again (hopefully) in 2012. We can't take the reunion for granted: some folks will move on to other faires or won't be able to commit to an 8-week stay; some folks are simply not with us any longer ... This year, we've had more than our share of scares with injuries and illnesses, and none of us have discovered Ponce de Leon's fountain.

We bid farewell to the 4 "middles" who were fostered then adopted out by Catmatchers ... and to 3 of the 4 "littles" who were birthed on Feb. 4 (the last snow day). We still need to determine what we can do for 3 of the 4 "big uns" when we move ... and my mom will take Lola, the rat terrier, into her home ...

I hear a David Bowie song in the back of my head ...

All Fired Up

Court Lady wearing Steph's bodice jewelry and Faire & Fancy gown

I wish the students were as fired up as the state of Texas ... wildfires have popped up everywhere west of Fort Worth. Right now, Possum Kingdom Lake has turned into an inferno. Not good -- we have high winds, low humidity, and a slight chance for rain. It's been a dry spring. I overheard Dustin saying that normally they mow the faire field once or twice a season; so far, the grass hasn't gotten high enough to mow ... and it's only April.




More drama this weekend -- Alana's mother was hospitalized and, as of Tuesday, no word on what caused her paralyzed condition. Our thoughts & prayers go out to the family during this week of Passover. Scary -- then my mom's phone went on the fritz Monday, until I was ready to get in the car and drive into Dallas to spend the night. Everything's all right (huzzah!), but still a mystery as to why her phones won't work. I'll check things out tonight. What happened with Alana's mom is a reminder that the current family arrangement for Mom may not last forever -- and how I dread that discussion this summer! You know the old saying, "If Momma's not happy, ain't nobody happy."

But ths end of this school year will arrive in 5-6 weeks ... but we have to get through TAKS hell next week.

Blowing in the Wind

Monday morning arrived with a bang, followed by a rain surge that rattled the rooftops. Although the rules say stay indoors, I rolled out of bed and ran to the front door -- branches blocked the sidewalk. Then the wind shifted, and the eerie wail of storm sirens echoed through the storm-tossed trees. Joy and I waited until they died away ... yes, we should have headed for the safe room, but which cats to save -- and the birdcages won't fit. As we did in '94 when an F-4 tornado ripped through Lancaster, we waited out the storm.

At first, we figured a tree was down -- we had phone and power -- but when the sun rose, we could see that there was a power line down. Now the merry-go-round of when can the repair people arrive and who will pay began. Right now, we're paying since it'll take another 2-3 days before an insurance adjustor can come out. With a hot power line and rain predictions, we can't wait. The only reason the lightning strike didn't cause a fire was the burst of rain that drowned out any sparks.

So, I went off to teach while Joy began the calls. Oncor -- the power carrier -- is horrible. I don't care about all the electricity companies with their promises. The minute they say that the carrier remains Oncor, I know that there will be trouble down the road ... There is no competition, as far as I know, for the carriers, only the providers. Talk about a monopoly. As you can guess, I was running on adrenaline. (The hit happened around 2 AM, and we stayed awake until the worst of the storm passed around 3.) Luckily, since we had power, I created a quick emergency lesson and moved on.

The storm pix aren't coming in, so you'll have to use your imagination ... Imagine having to jump off the porch and plow through waist-high box shrubs in order to reach the car. That was me on Monday morning -- the tree branches were that dense!

No April Fools, Please!

By the end of the day, my face will freeze in this expression. Today is April Fools' Day, and everyone thinks he's a comedian. My first period class if almost all boys, so it will be a torment. If things don't shape up quickly, everyone will fail by April 15. As most females know, boys think that silly sounds are cute -- and I am so tired of their idea of being cute. Rude, crude, and socially unacceptable are much better terms. Thursday I got to see the lawyer -- a real one, this time, not just a legal assistant. We started the next phase to get into bankruptcy court. Woo-hoo! When they call it a "homework packet," they aren't kidding ... every little detail will be inventoried as they make a case for the court. I'm just glad that I signed up for a legal services plan through the school district. I shudder to think how much lawyers charge per hour ... and Mom says they might charge if they call -- well, in my case, e-mail. Even at $100 an hour, the amount adds up quickly -- and you have to pay most of the fees up front before they represent you in court. With the plan, I pay less than $350 total. (Of course, each month I've paid about $20 -- but by the time this process is over, the legal service fees will pay for most of the lawyer's fees.) On a different note, I'm still nursing a sore leg. I have no idea -- besides the intense cold in February -- what's made it cramp up and hurt. I could get some potassium -- or check the vitamin aisle at Wal-Mart or Whole Foods -- and definitely stay off the stairs. In a school like Sunset, it slows me down considerably because the elevators crawl during the peak times before & after school ... but it's doing better -- and I'm still doing ballet. (Insane, I know, but the exercise keeps the muscles from totally freezing up) We were talking about a character dance for Dallas Arts, but I think it's gone onto the back burner since my dance partners might not make class & rehearsal. SIGH -- I would so love to get back into costume & perform again!!