Ablative Absolut

Quarters of Quarters

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 01:33:39 GMT

I seriously can't fail any more to plan ahead than I am doing right now. There's even mid-terms this week, so I only have to plan for three days instead of five, but instead here I sit.

Planning nothing. Thinking about how little I want to plan the next five minutes, much less the whole week, much less organizing the Latin Festival.

I'm not even half done yet. Why is this year going so slowly?

My vacation can't possibly be over

Mon, 27 Nov 2006 19:17:34 GMT

I just mailed in my certification application to the Dept of Education for the second time. Hopefully it won't come back with more junk to do this time.

I can't believe my Thanksgiving break is over already. I'm just barely starting to feel human again! I'm almost over the cold I've had for a few weeks, but as soon as I go back tomorrow and get all stressed out again, it'll come right back.

I did hours of grading yesterday, and I have a bunch more to do, except A) I'm missing the answer key for one batch of scrambled sentences so I can't figure out who's right and B) i can't find the folder with the Latin II projects in it at all. If they aren't on my desk when i get back to school tomorrow, I have no idea what i'm going to do.

Being in charge sucks. I still have to write lesson plans for this week. Ugh.

School Tomorrow

Mon, 28 Aug 2006 01:55:39 GMT

Cue the start of new job panicking. I've at least come to grips with the fact that I won't be sleeping kind of at all later on this evening.

It's really nice, though, to be in a district big enough to have four Latin teachers and two survey Latin teachers, because there are lots of people to talk to. And also, the other high school teacher is new as well, so we can freak out together.

I was on the fence about doing Latin names until i was writing names down in my gradebook tonight and got to 'Dung'. As soon as I had to write that down, i was pretty sure we were going directly to Marcus and Sextus after that action.

And we aren't going to talk about the hyphenation. Don't hospitals give parents RULES about this sort of thing?

94 students tomorrow. WAAAH.

This Whole Real Job Thing

Tue, 18 Jul 2006 18:23:34 GMT

I'm starting to get nervous about the real job starting, and there are some bad doings going on at the summer job.

Long story short, my general manager hasn't been in since Friday and nobody knows what's happening, which is very very bad. Since she is basically the entire reason I continue to work there randomly, if she is actually fired, I will simply quit.

while this is probably best in the long run, since the math class is sucking up a lot of my time and the new job's orientation will begin in mid-August, I'm still not particularly happy. or rich.

I need to call the teacher from this year as well, and ask wtf is going on, but eeeeeh, calling random people on the phone *hates* I did call the office this morning to get her number, which is a step in the right direction, and they said they have a curriculum guide and things.

Also, they mailed me my schedule and apparently i do not have a room. Noooooooo. Being a new teacher is not winning any fun awards so far.

Hooded.

Fri, 19 May 2006 23:08:27 GMT

I made the hooding ceremony with like five minutes before procession, completely soaked because this state will not stop raining. They tried to give the wrong degreee announcement card, and even when they did find me, spelled my name wrong. I was the only person with my degree, so I had no place in line.

I keep thinking that I can't possibly hate UVM more, but i actually reached a point today where the woman was rifling through the degree cards while the procession was already moving behind me, and I developed a shooting pain in my side/back.

Since Romans thought anger was housed in the liver, I would have been dweebily amused if I hadn't been busy hating UVM and also shivering pathetically.

Today was my last day at Montpelier too, which made me very sad, especially since I had to rush out early to even get to the stupid hooding. I'm not ready to give up my Latin kids :(

Nor to pack up everything in the apartment. Nor to go home where the internet sucks and my room isn't my room.

Abject Failure

Tue, 09 May 2006 12:25:22 GMT

So, I think I just failed my portfolio. I can't TELL because this department is full of fucking morons, but it seems to me that the NP scrawled across four out of six sections means "no pass". I feel it is completely evident that neither reviewer actually read through all the material in this portfolio.

One reviewer's handwriting is completely incomprehensible. there is apparently no evidence that the I have identified professional strengths and weaknesses, despite the included "PROFESSIONALISM SELF-ASSESSMENTS." I furthermore failed the colleagueship section, despite the letters from colleagues directly addressing my colleagueship.

I sent an email to the department head, which was very professional all things considered, in which I did not call the one reviewer to be a moron, which I know personally to be true, and in which I did not make any mention of that fact that people commented that I was missing things that were labeled in bold face. I did use the phrase "completely unacceptable." I think I just used up all my professionalism for the next like three years.

I wish that font +2 scrolling letters could encompass my hatred for this place and these people. I can't stop crying, which I hate doing in public.

Dear sweet jesus, do not go to UVM. Just take the obscene tuition check and use it to papercut your wrists open, the right way, because it will be better for your mental health in the long run.

home stretch

Wed, 26 Apr 2006 13:53:13 GMT

no more substituting. I'm STILL wrecked, even though my mentor teacher came back yesterday.

although perhaps this portfolio bullshit is not helping things either. I'm writing out full lesson plans, which is always a good time when the state standards available for you to use are:

5.19 Speaking and Listening – Students can speak and understand a non-native language.
5.20 Reading – Students read in a non-native language.
5.21 Writing – Students write in a non-native language.

why yes, VT, thanks for clearing that all up.

Teacher research presentation: 1 given, 1 to go
FL methods portfolio: Due Thursday, done but for scanning in scrambled sentence sheets
Licensure portfolio: Due Tuesday, needs another teaching episode, explanations for all entries, printouts of 21098109283 observations, conclusions for both case study kids, and a ton of unit stuff.

waaaaaah.

Job!

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 19:28:30 GMT

I've been offered a full-time teaching position in my home state! I told them i will call them tomorrow with my answer, which is flagrantly yes.

*dies of relief and interviewing*

Overheard in the Intern Room

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 12:02:35 GMT

English intern: "Well, i have an interview tomorrow."
Other English intern: "Oh yeah? I hope you suck."
me: "lol, what?!"
OEI: "Yeah, i hope you get there half an hour late and forget everything, and break your ankle. And curse."
EI: "[Yet Another English Intern] said he was going to photoshop pictures of me doing lines with students in the bathroom and mail them to the principal."
me: *dying*

Ah, job competition, you bring out the best and the brightest.

Student teaching: over! but substituting for the next three class days. yay?

3 down, 18 to go

Mon, 13 Mar 2006 13:32:01 GMT

And so week 2 of student teaching begins. For some reason I'm more nervous this week than last, but maybe that's because here's the part where I actually have to assess student learning and modify instruction.

And yell at fifth period for walking out before the end of the period on Friday.

And convince a 15-year-old that farting in my Latin I class is not considered class participation.

And not lose the approximately 1938489837487 pieces of student work I'm accumulating.

but I have worksheets! That's about all you can do, really.

Power to the Point, Yo

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 23:12:36 GMT

So i have to give some ridiculous mini-lesson presentation in my Foreign Language Methods class (yes, that class, you know the one i mean), and the professor is rather overcome by the wonder of PowerPoint, so that is what we're all supposed to be using.

Now, seriously, I teach Latin people, and i think we all know that i'm no techonophobe, but the highest technology i'm likely to use on a regular basis is the overhead, and I blow those up pretty good. So let's just review that i'm A) not taking this very seriously and B) need to pull something out of my ass by thursday immediately after school.

But then i was thinking "Latin + PowerPoint =.........that Roman Garden presentation I did for The Ancient House like three years ago!"

It was still saved on the external HD, even though it was three computers ago, along with all the lecture notes i needed for it. It includes a picture of me dressed as a Muse.

Ahahahahaha, SARA FOR THE WIN.

too bad i don't have 3 full Latin units on here too.</small

this week needs to STOP

Fri, 03 Feb 2006 13:21:07 GMT

Called to office over loudspeaker STOP other interns made fun of me STOP other teachers made fun of me STOP turns out i am substituting all day STOP there are no lesson plans STOP there's a meeting in my room until 3rd period so i can't find anything STOP but hey i get $55 for this FULLSTOP

me and my shadow

Fri, 27 Jan 2006 15:29:37 GMT

I'm shadowing a case study student today, and it's a lot more boring than the first time I did this. The student just flees at the end of class to the next one, so we haven't talked at all.

Not to mention, the english class i just sat through made me want to kill myself. The teacher spent the first 20 minutes babbling about a trip to England that nobody in this class would be taking, and then finally got to the book, and then just read random bits of sentences off the pages, trying to get the kids to finish her sentences.

omfg. No wonder they're only on page 14! i wonder how long they've been doing this? My notes are useless, because I don't think my student spoke or even moved once for the entire period.

I have to do this like 4 more times! God, this sucks. I want my first case study kid back so i can play more four square.

Entertaining myself with readings

Sun, 22 Jan 2006 16:18:20 GMT

ie, why i should not be teaching small children.

From today's reading, the sentence that made me laugh out loud in the middle of the library:

"This phenomenon of linguistic breakdown is often observed in ACTFL oral proficiency interviews during the "probe" phase."
--Teaching Language in Context, 3rd Edition

"I'm sorry, sir, I was using the Probity Probe on level 3 and he experienced a linguistic breakdown..."

intern wars

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 16:11:30 GMT

so there's this one teacher who in general is perpetually pissed off about everything, and in particular any time she's in the Faculty room, she makes a big deal out of yanking the door that connects to the intern's office shut.

We all just take it, because she's a teacher and we're interns, and we can talk about her when the door's closed anyway.

However, our office is actually technically our site coordinator's office, and today he was having none of that.

"Oh," he (now let me say he's the sweetest, most laid back, most retired man you've ever met) announced, "i'm opening it."

the other intern and i pled with him not to, as it would only draw the wrath of the teacher, but Ed insisted that he wanted the heat from the other office and that was how it was going to be.

so he marches it over and yanks it open again, while the other intern and I stare in horror.

"we need some heat," he says.

"well WE need to work!" says the PP teacher, getting up to 'fix' the situation.

"You just try it," he says, while everyone else in the room titter in vicarious victory.

and that's the end of that.

phone call from the burg

Tue, 03 Jan 2006 14:04:31 GMT

I just had a phone call from an administrator from my home school district, who reported that the Latin teacher in the rival school to my high school is for sure retiring this year.

OMFG HUZZAH. *does the dance of impending job*

I'm getting out of here for sure now, no matter how hard UVM tries to stop me.

ow, my pride.

Thu, 08 Dec 2005 15:32:00 GMT

I totally just fell off my chair in the intern room, trying to reach across the table for a tissue.

Just thought you all should know the state of my competancy at this moment.

Iratam Magistram Timeo

Wed, 16 Nov 2005 05:57:21 GMT

I just finished sending an email to the two hardcore self-paced students in which I had to apologize for being ridiculously mean to them while they were taking quizzes.

On the one hand, I really hate them invading my library time consistently, but on the other hand there was absolutely no excuse for exactly how mean I was. A good person would have simply told them they just had to go away for a while.

Clearly, I am not that person. I offered cookies to compensate, but the truth is that I should know better than anybody that there really isn't any compensation for a teacher letting you know exactly what they think about you in a moment of bad-tempered clarity.

I fail at everything this week.

EDSC 207 is ruining my life

Wed, 09 Nov 2005 03:14:18 GMT

EDSC Website: Finished and fucking gorgeous.

EDSC Paper: Unedited but Re-Formatted (ie, finished).

EDFS presentation: Given.

216 Assessment copies and transparencies: Made.

215 Graphic representation: Pending Chalk.

Library Co-Worker: Useless and irritating.

Latin 003 Students: Plentiful. Also irritating.

EDSC final project: *cries with laughter...........then just cries*

It was necessary for me to knit throughout my EDFS class this afternoon, because tactile stimulation was the only thing keeping my rage in check (some of you may remember last week when I ate a steady stream of junk for the same effect). I suspect I will be knitting quite a bit in my classes tomorrow, as well.

Math in the Intern Room

Thu, 03 Nov 2005 13:33:46 GMT

Other intern: "I need to log 60 hours of french classes, but periods are only 45 minutes long."

yet another intern: "If you do 60 periods, how short will you be?"

OI: "I'm not sure. What's 60 times 45?"

YAi: "I don't know. Do it on the board."

OI: "60 times 40 then divide by...i'm so bad at this."

Me: "Wait, I have a calculator on my computer. What do you need?"

OI: "60 periods times 45 minutes, and then how many hours am I short?"

Me: "So 60 times 45, divided by 60, right?"

OI: "Yeah, 60 minutes in an hour."

Me: "It's....45. 60 times 45 divided by 60, is going to be 45."

all interns involved: ".............oh yeah."

Unless that Octopus is named Caesar, it's not story time.

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 16:17:14 GMT

This substituting gig is pretty sweet. You'd think i'd like being the intern more, but i spend a lot of time being in the way and watching my mentor teacher do stuff, and I like being in charge better.

I made the Latin II class tell me how to decline a word they'd never seen before. Activated prior knowledge and everything. I freaking own constructivist teaching.

I'm a little terrified of the 26 Latin I students that come next, who have to take some sort of quiz that I can't really read the directions for, but it'll be fiiiiiine. They're freshmen, what do they know?

I am getting pretty sick of watching this Caesar documentary, however. Ah well, i'm getting paid to do it *g*

This is why Latin is dying out.

Tue, 25 Oct 2005 17:43:41 GMT

I woke up an hour late, and drove to Montpelier in the pouring rain, arriving 45 minutes late for class. I would have given up and stayed home, but this was the class about building the certification portfolio, so I plowed ahead.

I should have given up, because once there, I was informed that none of the teaching material i created for CTY over two summers was in any way useable, because it's all for a Greek class, and my endorsement is in Latin.

If there was any way of going back in time to two years ago when Houser suggested grad school might fun, i would throw myself off the Harrisburg Pike footbridge just to save everybody a lot of time.

I refuse to go to 203 this afternoon, because I will probably kill somebody if i do.

Classical Mayhem

Fri, 21 Oct 2005 00:15:14 GMT

I am geekily really excited for the Vermont Classical Language Association meeting that happens tomorrow. We're going to plan Latin Day!

This has nothing to do with the fact that I have to be in Burlington at 9am rather than in Montpelier at 7am.

I think one of my self-paced Latin kids is supposed to show up while I'm in the library, but I forgot to bring my stuff again. a little illicit use of the Periodicals printer never hurt anybody.

I need some classical icons. *fires up the photoshop*

Certifiable

Mon, 17 Oct 2005 16:05:59 GMT

The Praxis I has been officially taken. Barring some sort of ridiculous drama with the writing section, which I find not very likely, I think it's safe to say that I am qualified.

Except for, you know, all those other certification things PA wants from me.

It would be nice to have time to gloat (or even to make this journal marginally less horribile specie), but instead I must settle for writing a short story for my ESFC class which is due on Tuesday. And listening to the new Switchfoot album.

Okay, it isn't all bad.