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Monday, October 08, 2007

Gak!

Okay, so I am poking my head in here really, really quickly. You should be reading this post in a high-pitched, manic voice because I have like 5 minutes of free time today.

Why, you ask? Well, let me tell you:

thejuniorshavecrucibleoutlinesduetomorrowandthefreshmenturnedtheiressaysintoday andimstillbehindongradingfromlastweekandneedtocatchupdidimentionthatmyjuniorshave morethan40assignmentssofarthisquarter? insteadofthesmarter(andmoreboring)choiceofworkingallweekendweallwenttocaliforniainsteadwhereitwascoldandtheboysgot somefishbutthatmeanttodaytherewasallkindsofstufftodo
thenigotalovelynotefromastudent-parentsayingtheyhad "moralissues"withtheessaypromptandthereforeshehad"excused"herselffromtheassignment sotherewasthatdramaandididntreallyknowwhattodoaboutitbesidesstew

whew

iwassupposedtostarttutoringforproficiencyexamstodaybuttherewasnoannouncementsandno flyersandnoplansoranything(thatonesmyfault)soanywaybut thatmeansihavetokicksomebuttbeforewednesday
soiamheretakingaquickbreakbecauseimfeelingguiltyaboutalsonotbloggingbutthereislaundry readytocomeoutofthedryerandahandouttomakeforact3ofthecrucibleandineedtomakeagrading sheetfortheoutlinesthataredueandifidontgetsomeofitdoneithinkmybrainwillexplode.

So there's that. Hope your weeks are starting out manageably because I seem to be stressed enough for everyone already.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Whew! That was a workout! After reading that, I feel like I just ran 5 miles at race pace! :-)

Hang in there, Teacher-Woman.

k said...

You just barely avoided having your girls zapped. (Ask Tyson.)

What was your essay prompt? I have to hear (read) this! Seriously, I really want to know what could be so bad.

Erin said...

The prompt:
We just finished reading Of Mice and Men, and one of the very, very important ideas we have been talking about is Naturalism, the pervasive attitude after the Civil War, then again during the Depression. Anyways, they had to A)explain how OMAM is an example of Naturalism, B) explain how "There Will Come Soft Rains" is an example of Naturalism C) choose a story from the news and find Naturalistic elements in it D) define Naturalism using a variety of examples or E) write a short story or poem using Naturalism as a theme. Apparently, her father interpreted it as "convert to Naturalism and be pessimistic and an athiest forever," because he said the idea of people not caring about each other was "ludicrous" and unless I modified the assignment "to include the ideas of the founding fathers," then his daughter was not writing the essay. Mind you, the essay was assigned two weeks before the due date and it was only the day it was due that it ever became a problem. Go figure.
This is the same student who, last week, took a look at the vocabulary quiz and immediately asked if she could re-take it later because "it was a busy week and she didn't study." (She neglected to mention that she also failed to complete the assignment earlier in the week that might have helped her on the quiz.)
Anyway, to mollify Dad I told her she could write an essay on why the novel is NOT an example of Naturalism and that I would be taking 15 points off the top since she'll have an extra week to do it.

Tyson said...

You are a meany-pants, Mizz Downey.

k said...

So the part about including "ideas of the founding fathers..." does that include the white elitist ideas -- and when it comes to "all men are created equal" they meant white European men, literally. And is he, like so many of us, extending the "ideas of the founding fathers" into the first few presidents -- like say the first 5 presidents -- you know, the ones that were not Christian? I am just wondering because that would be a really cool essay, maybe worthy of say, oh, about 15 points in extra credit.

Erin said...

So guess who didn't turn in a paper today? Anybody?

k said...

Ah come on... I am sure there is a good reason!