I know you've been dying to know!

On Sunday, I did indeed stay in pajamas all.day.long! It was very exciting....In that, it wasn't.

Also, it came to my attention that my throat was actually hurting, and the touch of congestion meant an actual bout of illness was coming on.

Monday, teaching with a sore throat was less than ideal. I read them Casey at the Bat and reviewed some comprehension issues. They started their own ballads, but with very little time. So today we read Dorlan's Home Walk--I read it to them and then a couple times they all read it aloud together. Most of the students did well. I kept the rhythm, nice and slow, and they were able to work through all the lines, even the tough ones, like "if mischance ye fain would shun." Then they had some more time to work on their own poems, and I went around asking students to read me their stanzas while I clapped rhythm. That way they could hear if a line was too short or too long.

Naturally, there wasn't a lot of time to do the work in class, and I just know that the little work I get tomorrow will be total crap. I'd like to do another day of reading and understanding (and Sam McGee was one of the other ballads I found! I love the internal rhyme and all the repetition), and perhaps I'll give them the bulk of the class period to touch up their work if they need it. Maybe. Eh.

We can go on to cinquain and quatrain, but those are so boring, man. Who cares. Really, I want to quiz them again to make them see that they have to pay attention in class. We need to do limericks again too, and I could probably spend one day on haiku, even though they've done them before. And I really like having them read poems aloud together.

Oh, all three classes did pretty well today! Not really perfect, necessarily, but I think mostly stayed in the 4-5 range for class points. I've been keeping the lights off after lunch, and I think that really affects them. They are noticeably quieter and calmer, but I'm pretty sure most of that is because of the lunchtime outside play, and the lack of light encourages that sleepiness. Which, at this point in the year, I'm mostly okay with. Sad, I know. But I'm human too, not just a teacher robot!

Today the throat is better, and the congestion is steady. The Airborne is working decently, but all the talking during the day sort of clogs up the sinuses, you know what I mean? Somehow I feel dampness in my sinuses but my throat is dry, which is an odd and uncomfortable combination.

A number of my students are also blowing noses, and today we officially ran out of kleenex in the classroom! Whoopee! Except, not. The last couple days I've pleaded with the students to bring in some more, for all of our sakes. I hope some of them do, because otherwise we're in trouble. I'm low on paper towels, too, which is a first.