Quite Contrary

I'm sure most people will be all celebratory and optimistic in their posts today. That's why I'm going to take this time to complain about some stuff.

1. WHY DID I HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL TODAY?

I'm not saying this because I think we should have gotten out for the inauguration. No, I'm saying this because my school system has TWICE, in the past year, let us out of school early because of the threat of HEAVY RAIN [Note: The HEAVY RAIN did not come to pass]. Yet, this morning, as I drove to school in a shower of snow, there was no cancellation warning.

Anyway, we didn't do anything at school today except watch the inauguration. I mean ... we practiced taking standardized tests and concentrated on decreasing our drop-out rate. [Note: Those two activities are diametrically opposed and cancel each other out.]

2. WHY DOES MY SCHOOL DISTRICT HATE TEACHERS?

Every time we have a three-day weekend, the district schedules some sort of required after-school something for teachers on the Tuesday we come back. If it's not in-service, it's parent-teacher conferences. I think this is a passive-aggressive method of punishment.

3. WHY DO WE HAVE TWO DAYS OF PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES?

Fortunately, this was the last day of p/t conferences for the year. However, last week I had three parents come to my room, and today I had one. So I put in six extra hours in order to see four people. This is business that could have been conducted over the phone or through email. Besides, I NEVER see parents whose kids are failing my classes, only those whose kids are good and polite and work hard.

4. WHY DO PEOPLE WRITE ON DESKS?

And why, after they've already gotten in trouble for it, do they continue to do so? What is the fascination? Today I gave a speech that ended like this: "And if I catch you vandalizing my property again, you will know the meaning of pain, DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR." It was a good speech.

5. THIS IS NOT A COMPLAINT.

I introduced new vocabulary words in my reading class today, and one of the words is waft. So I was giving examples of things that waft, and this kid, this one kid who worries me with his inattention and his slowness to grasp things and his inability to follow simple directions, said, "Oh, like snowflakes waft to the ground." And I picked my jaw up and tried not to look like a lightning strike victim, and praised that kid right up to the heavens, to his face.

I swear, sometimes a crappy day just turns itself upside down because of one kid.*




*This works by opposites, too.