Here we are, New Year’s Eve… well, the day of, anyway. Needless to say, I’m not looking forward to going back to work, and as it is, I don’t know if I’ll be at work next week because we had a death in the family this past week and I have an appointment on the 3rd, that I planned to take the day off for.
Some edubloggers are writing about plans for the new year and I feel a little twinge of jealousy but not too much. Mostly, I’m just relieved that January promises to be an easy month, given that we have finals at the beginning of the month, and Regents at the end, so it’s only two weeks of teaching.
Tonight, I’m looking forward to a madhouse evening at my sister’s apartment. We went to Costco yesterday and bought a boatload of hors d’oeurves. (We wanted to go to Stew Leonards but the parking lot was a traffic jam…scary!) We’ve got a bottle of champagne left over from the wedding and it’s my job to go stock up on sparkling cider for the kiddies. I wonder if I can find those plastic champagne glasses, too?
Whatever you’re doing tonight, stay safe, stay sane and don’t do anything stupid (though if you’re planning to go into the city, I guess you can forget that last one!)
Ms. Frizzle tagged me for this meme. I wasn’t going to do it until next week but I’m procrastinating on laundry, so here goes.
1. I asked my husband for a vacuum for Christmas. I got a special Bissell vacuum just for tackling pet hair. I’m very happy with it, and its myriad pet-hair-eliminating properties.
2. Though I grew up in a tiny town called Guilderland, just outside of Albany, I was born in Manhattan and lived on Long Island until I was 8.
3. I lived in the same town on Long Island as Joan Jett and we used to trick-or-treat at her house. According to my sisters, she gave out the best candy.
4. I went to boarding school for a year, when I was 10, in Northampton. It’s called the Clarke School for the Deaf.
5. While I was there, I beat up a girl for being annoying. Then, I felt so bad, I threw up all over the place. I never did it again.
6. I’m a total space cadet with a serious follow-through problem.
7. I quit my job. My last day is January 29th.**
**This is the big news I was saving for after the New Year but I might as well spill the beans now. I’ll think of some other big news to share after the New Year.
Ah, Christmas vacation is here! Never mind that I was out two days this week. It was still a long week! The hubby and I are headed to Northampton for the weekend, and back in the city on Christmas Eve. We’ll do the traditional chinese-food-and-a-movie on Christmas day, then celebrate his birthday the following day. My niece is having her 4th birthday party at Stew Leonard’s on Thursday (cue the dancing cow!). After that, I should be free as a bird, especially since I made a very conscious decision to leave all my work at work. 
I have exciting things planned, such as finally getting to work on the wedding album.
By the way, on Tuesday, I helped a fellow teacher chaperone a trip to MOMA. We had the whole museum to ourselves, since it’s closed to the public on Tuesdays, and there were no other groups booked. It was great but I didn’t get to see everything, since we were there to look at the work of Spanish artists. Luckily, the docent gave us a one-year Educator’s Pass. Considering that MOMA costs a whopping 20 bucks for admission, I really appreciate that pass!
There are things I would like to share with you but I’m not at liberty to divulge this information at the moment. For a big mouth like me, this is more difficult than you could imagine but it’s character building. Expect to be updated after the New Year.
In other news, I’m totally digging the Secrets and Lies series that Ms. Frizzle has started on her blog. I received a very cool holiday card from Julie. I’m flattered that I made it on to her holiday mailing list. Unfortunately, I’m not the holiday card giving type, though I do occasionally do a holiday letter. This year, though, the letter is on hold until after the New Year, so I can share the aforementioned news.
If you really want to help me out, keep your fingers crossed for a snow day on Monday. That would make this last week of school before vacation totally bearable–a four-day week.
By the way, regarding the progress reports, it went better than I expected. Some of the kids who received an N were upset but when I showed them the grade book, they were all, “ohhhhh!” and more than a few of them buckled down to work on the day’s assignment. I had one kid who hasn’t been to class in a month ask if he could “just do some extra credit” and pass the class. Guess what my answer to that was? Another tried to bargain his way to a higher grade for the 3rd marking period. “I want a 90. How about 85? I have to have an 85!” My response: “Instead of bargaining for a higher grade, why don’t you just earn it?” It was a rational response and he knew it, responding “Ok, Miss” and he got right back to work. I really should do this more often.
Update: Based on a comment I just received, it occurs to me that people are expecting me to announce that I’m pregnant. LOL. I have bigger news than that, trust me but like I said, you’ll have to wait until after the New Year.
Another Update: This time, on how dense I am. No, the title of this blog post is not a clue.
First of all, if you’re googling Saul Bellow, you might want to spell it correctly. It’s Saul, not Sol.
Second of all, why are you googling “Sol Bellow Catcher in the Rye” in the same phrase?
(The WP blog stats thing is a little dangerous!)
I just finished my progress reports, which are due tomorrow. It’s an easy enough process–just enter a bunch of Ns (In Danger of Failing) or Ps on a spreadsheet, add some comment codes and e-mail the thing back to my AP and the programmer. There was a lot of chatter about progress reports when the city first rolled out this intiative. I didn’t pay much attention to it. I don’t think they are a bad idea in theory, or in practice. Really, it’s not very helpful for the kids to get a report only once a marking period, a report that is usually sent to parents weeks after the marking period has ended anyway. With progress reports, kids get them towards the end of a marking period… that’s not very helpful either. I think the slow turn-around defeats the purpose of issuing the reports. My solution: post the spreadsheet in my room the day I hand it in. I’ve deleted all the kids’ names and left only the columns that contain their ID numbers and the mark they’ve gotten. I included a little note explaining what the marks mean and what the kid should do, based on their mark (see me if they are in danger of failing, keep up the good work if they are passing, since a P is no guarantee of a passing grade at the end of the marking period…).
We’ll see how this little experiment goes tomorrow. I predict a little chaos, but what else is new?
I demand to know who keeps using these two search terms to end up at my blog:
“nanirolls deaf sisters”
“nanirolls hearing aid”
But, really. I’m dying of curiosity here. E-mail me or something.
I HATE REGENTS PREP.
In fact. I hate it so much that I refuse to do it anymore. It’s sucking the life out of me and my kids are getting bored and frustrated. So, that’s that. Back to the real work of teaching literature, thankyouverymuch.
Bonnie from the Hudson Valley hosted Days in Sentences this week. Check it out!
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