"Help Meeeee" says my throat

Ooh, my throat feels weird. It hurts to swallow, but sort of like there's something squeezing my throat from the outside. And I can feel my lymph nodes, a bit swollen. Not to mention some sinus pressure. Waah, boo, etc.

So. Today was alright. They were supposed to write the Background/Historical Info section and get started on the Issue section.

Ms F came in for Class A this morning. Of course, they did excellently for the first half of class. The second half they were a bit chatty, naturally. Four or five students stayed on task the whole time. I gave them a jelly bean.

Ooh, I had a coverage fourth. That meant none of my lunchtime regulars could stay and get some work done. But the class was not too bad, actually. I brought in the BrainQuest that I got over the weekend, and played that in teams. They behaved pretty well and were involved. That's cool. What a difference!

Class B was not very ideal. Three students were on task the entire time. Big D might have his name changed to Dispicable Jackass. He absolutely does not deserve to be in school at all. I'm going to be writing a letter to the administration about the fact that he verbally and physically assaults other students, blatantly flouts the rules, and to top it off, does not even pretend to work.

Anyway. Class C was okay. Only one student was on task the entire time. Eh.

Shit, I need to make some phone calls. And grade papers. And then go to bed. I went to sleep at 10 last night but am still worn out.

Oh, I forgot--it snowed today, twice! For awhile during second period (it only briefly distracted the kids, thank god), and also after school. Whee, pretty.

This is classic: yesterday at our 6th grade ELA common planning (three of us are new teachers), someone mentioned midterms. As in, we have to give them. They get their own column in the report cards. Has ANYONE mentioned a WORD about midterms, at ALL? NEVER.

Then the "weekly circular" that was distributed yesterday says, "Midterms must be given the week of Jan 18." Yesterday was the 18th. That's this week.

Any of you out there want to call bullshit?