Things were a bit crazy, which meant pretty muc 0 time on the computer for me, plus very little knitting time. But now it's a 4 day weekend. Yay!!
The week started off with my car breaking down driving in to work on Monday morning. The water pump had broken, which seems to have triggered a chain reaction of events (loose serpentine belt, overheating, and something with the power steering fluid!). So I was really late to work (my students were awful while I was gone, too!), I think I ruined a good pair of pants with dirt and grease, and I'm out over $700 on the repairs. But it's working well now....
Then I ended up working all 4 afternoons this week, which isn't all bad (it will help pay for the car repairs!). I was scheduled to work 3 already, but then got asked at lunchtime Tuesday to stay that afternoon and chaperone the Colombian students on their field trip. It actually was pretty fun, so not a huge deal. The visiting students are really very nice, friendly, funny, well-behaved, and speak pretty good English, so I'm mostly enjoying working with them.
We also had some serious problems with students this week which have resulted in extra duty at lunch for me (hopefully only temporary), as well as a lot of stress for everyone who teaches this bunch of kids. It hasn't been fun, but hopefully is getting solved. We have some really great kids, but also a core group that have serious problems (family/medical/behavioural stuff) and they're starting to ruin the dynamic for everyone else.
And finally, last night was parent interview night. I only had 2 parents come to see me, but they came 2 hours apart, so I had to sit around the school and wait and wait. Got to have a long chat with our VP about the problem kids, and I think we're all working together pretty well on some proactive solutions. I implemented our new zero tolerance policy yesterday in one class with great effect, and I hope the message is getting through to everyone else!
So now it's the weekend. We're getting the house cleaned today (may have company tomorrow, not sure yet!), and Monday will be visiting Cambridge for belated Easter dinner with Stephen's family, but I should get some good knitting and relaxing time. Had hoped for some gardening, but it's been snowing for about 36 hours now. I did take pictures of the crocuses before the snow came...will post those soon!
The week started off with my car breaking down driving in to work on Monday morning. The water pump had broken, which seems to have triggered a chain reaction of events (loose serpentine belt, overheating, and something with the power steering fluid!). So I was really late to work (my students were awful while I was gone, too!), I think I ruined a good pair of pants with dirt and grease, and I'm out over $700 on the repairs. But it's working well now....
Then I ended up working all 4 afternoons this week, which isn't all bad (it will help pay for the car repairs!). I was scheduled to work 3 already, but then got asked at lunchtime Tuesday to stay that afternoon and chaperone the Colombian students on their field trip. It actually was pretty fun, so not a huge deal. The visiting students are really very nice, friendly, funny, well-behaved, and speak pretty good English, so I'm mostly enjoying working with them.
We also had some serious problems with students this week which have resulted in extra duty at lunch for me (hopefully only temporary), as well as a lot of stress for everyone who teaches this bunch of kids. It hasn't been fun, but hopefully is getting solved. We have some really great kids, but also a core group that have serious problems (family/medical/behavioural stuff) and they're starting to ruin the dynamic for everyone else.
And finally, last night was parent interview night. I only had 2 parents come to see me, but they came 2 hours apart, so I had to sit around the school and wait and wait. Got to have a long chat with our VP about the problem kids, and I think we're all working together pretty well on some proactive solutions. I implemented our new zero tolerance policy yesterday in one class with great effect, and I hope the message is getting through to everyone else!
So now it's the weekend. We're getting the house cleaned today (may have company tomorrow, not sure yet!), and Monday will be visiting Cambridge for belated Easter dinner with Stephen's family, but I should get some good knitting and relaxing time. Had hoped for some gardening, but it's been snowing for about 36 hours now. I did take pictures of the crocuses before the snow came...will post those soon!
Comments
Hope the taking hard line works well...