"Somehow, it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer's day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o'clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum." - Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
We were dismissed at noon today. It's always a time of drama on hot days like this. Apparently the temperature has to reach 90 degrees by 11am at BWI for an early dismissal to take place. It was 86 degrees at 10am, so it had to raise four degrees in the next hour - and apparently it did, or was close enough for the school system to call it.
I used to think of BCPSS as wimpy for doing this. It got to 90 degrees in Michigan and we didn't get let out early, after all (nor did we have a/c, which we also don't). But it's just not about the a/c - it's mostly the lack of dependable, drinkable water in the schools. There's really no other option than to let the kids out. It was hot as hell this morning. My back was wet with sweat at the end of first period, and by the time second period ended, I had gone through three-quarters of a gallon of water and still felt thirsty.
I also found out my schedule for next year: English I Honors and English III CP. Exactly what I wanted, and exactly my schedule from last year. This gives me a good mix of young and old, and good mix of nerdy and sullen. It also offers me another crack at that Brit Lit curriculum that I finally felt like I "got" towards the end of last year. I'm happy. Not everyone was.
The Sweet Smell of White Privilege
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6 comments:
aw, come on. you know there is a difference between 90 degrees mid-west and 90 degrees mid-atlantic. my mother used to try to pull that on me with her 10 miles in the snow stories. then i felt the mid-west excuse for 100 degree heat. you could wear a jacket in that shade and not even feel it.
I don't know, we're not talking the southwest or anything, where it's dry heat. We're talking the midwest, specifically the Great Lakes region, where the difference between the lake temp and the air temp leads to lots of evaporation and suffocating humidity. For me, it always seemed hotter back home - although that might be because I'm always sunburned when I'm there. Around the other edge of the lake, I've never been in a more miserable place when it's hot than Chicago. All that concrete, the clouds of condensation hanging over the lake... ugh.
It's definitely not as hot for as long up there, though. We get a few days of 90, a few days of 100, but usually it's temperate and in the 80s for the summer.
But didja get a classroom?
I couldn't imagine teaching without AC. Of course, my students are always complaining that it is a meat locker. Ha!
My grandmother had to teach with no air in a dress and in heels. No thanks! I'm glad those days are over.
Haven't heard about the classroom yet. This year, I didn't know I was floating until I came on August 20th to set up my classroom. Oops! I suspect, unless they're trying to get rid of me or make me quit, that I'll get one. But one guy had to float two years in a row within the last five years - he was an alum, too, which made it even sadder - and he ended up leaving (or "floating away") after that second year of it.
Dana, you're making me jealous. Tomorrow it's supposed to be "only" 85 degrees, so I doubt if we'll be getting out early.
"good mix of nerdy and sullen"
I love it!
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