May Day

Only 6 entries in all of April, and still not one in May. Why am I not blogging? Many reasons:

1) Extreme over-work.

2) Lots of sensitive issues at the job that I won't write about on the Internets.

3) Extreme over-work.

4) I'm kind of down and out a bit. I really am lookinf forward to the summer, more than ever.

There is plenty of good happening right now, though. With coaching, I lost a third of my team due to grades when 3rd quarter report cards come out. I was disheartened about it, and twisted and turned in my mind about whether I had enough study halls or was on them enough about their grades, but it turns out that losing a third of the team has made the team in a leaner, hungrier batch of kids. Now, your absence is felt if you are late to practice. Now, you can't not cheer on the bench or everyone will know. The results have included the first victory in 16 years against a longtime rival. That, alone, has made the season a success. It was sincerely one of the happiest, proudest moments of my life.

Additionally, my Seniors took the first of two IB English tests on Monday. Never before have I been so invested in an external assessment. In fact, that's an understatement. The test results come back in July and they need to be what I expect or I'll really question my abilities as a teacher. I've taught many of these kids two years in a row, so, yeah, it's on me. It's been a weird year, losing 3 weeks to snow, but I need to maintain the 95% pass rates that our previous years have yielded. With only 42 kids, that means no more than 2-3 can fail. I already heard the 2 fell asleep during the first exam: so, yeah, I'm freaking out. The second test is Monday. Then, I'm done with them for good and can start on next year's batch (hopefully the pass rates won't be bad and the class won't be taken away from me in the summer).

With my 9th graders, who are, by the way, a group of 9th graders with whom I've had more issues than any other group of 9th graders ever, just so many who weren't ready for high school, we are are finally enjoying each other, I think. I wish I hadn't saved Shakespeare until the very end of the year because it has been the best teach of the year. The kids are invested and figuring out the language. I love it.

I'm most inspired by a young man who reads at a 5th grade reading level. He's struggled much of the year, but has worked hard. However, he is one of the best Shakespeare readers I have. I told him this was because he knows what it means to work at reading while he's doing it and the other students don't. He is willing to sit and grapple with the language and the other kids who are not used to working hard are not willing to. Therefore, he's getting it quicker than the others. For example, his explanation of the lines "Come, my dear love, / The purchase made, the fruits are to ensue. / The profit's yet to come" of "That mean he hasn't hit her yet, right?" came quicker than anyone else's.

So, that's all for now. Maybe I'll try to write more. I'm already thinking about next year.