More Amsterdam

My kind of shop! Sadly, closed.
Oude Kerk, I think.

One of the hostel kitties. Cute!

Rijksmuseum.
I went because I felt like I had to. When I saw the line, I very seriously considered just going to the gift shop in Museumplein instead. It was drizzly and waiting alone is really boring and lonely. Although I eavesdropped on a French family standing nearby. And they offered free hot cocoa. But I didn't get any, because I'm not sure why.
Then the stupid museum was really freaking crowded and I was irritably elbowing my way through the throngs to move along to the next room.

That famous model ship that actually wasn't a ship.

A salt cellar from either the 18th or 19th century. The salt goes in the little cup space in the middle.

Something I didn't take pictures of, but actually found quite interesting, was the porcelain room. First the collection showed some Chinese vases and candle things and that sort. But then, in the 1700s a civil war in China meant that nothing was imported. So some factories decided to make their own version, and that's how Delft earthenware, ceramic and porcelain got started.

The coolest piece I saw was a life size earthenware violin, complete with bridge and strings!

A really narrow canal house.

I'm not sure what the subheading means, but I love the title. I'm really not sure what dancing has to do with feminism, but I'm probably a big old square compared to those trendy and modern Europeans.

This made me roll my eyes in wonder: on a big street near Dam Square, a cafe proclaiming itself "A Little Bit of Italy & a Whole Lot of Seattle!"

New New street. Awesome.

I've never darkened the door of a Madame Tussaud's; too expensive and lines too long. But I got this decent shot through the window, of the hot Johnny Depp.

Did I post this before? This little Dutch girl was too cute. I had sat down to rest on a bench, and saw this tiny girl with a pacifier, grunting and stomping to get her father's attention. She clearly wanted him to take her on these round bars. He ignored her, so she walked over, pulled on his arm, grunting in a way that clearly said, "Daddy, come over here!" He finally noticed and allowed himself to go in that direction, but he didn't go far enough. She stood under the rings, stomping more, and longingly lifting her hands up over her head, clasping and unclasping them, to show what she wanted to do. Eventually he capitulated to her unspoken but strong demands, and he lifted her up. She grasped the rings like an old pro, and oh, how she giggled in sheer delight! And then he had the idea to flip her over, and that was just too much for her. The pacifier fell out in her laughter and happiness. Each time she was set back on the ground, she looked back up at the rings, with longing, as if they were the most amazing thing in the world, and why wasn't she up there again?

It was my first afternoon, and I decided to walk around a little. I saw a sign pointing to the direction of the Anne Frank Huis. On my guidebook map, it seemed kind of far away for walking, but I decided to just go for it. As it turned out , it wasn't far at all.

The experience was unnervingly surreal and emotional. The first part wasn't that interesting, walking through the warehouse and office rooms. But then you get to the room with the bookcase, which is still full of books, and standing open to admit you to the Secret Annexe.
I shivered when walking through the doorway, both trying and avoiding putting myself in Anne's place. The stairs were even steeper than in other Amsterdam staircases. Thinking about the scared people treading quietly up those very same stairs...again, surreal and emotional. And then seeing the living room's measurement notes on the girls, and Anne's collection of pictures glued to the wall, tears came to my eyes. These were real people, who lived right here, experiencing something that never should have happened, and then they died. And too many other real but nameless (to us) people also had to hide and get deported to concentration camps, and I still wish that we could make sure nothing like this ever happens again. Except it's still happening, all over the world.

This is Anne's original diary, on display.

Statue around the corner.

I also visited the Dutch Resistance Museum. Aside from its confusing, maze-like layout, there was an interesting and interactive collection of memorabilia. There were several spoken set-ups, a printing press, a desk whose drawers you opened to see hidden files, a set of real and forged identity papers, a prison cell with letters written in either morse code or blood (pens and pencils were not allowed, so they found other ways to pass messages), stories about groups who actively resisted the Nazi presence (like the tram strikes, protesting the mistreatment of Jews, or the huge group college students who refused to sign a no-protest petition, and had to go into hiding to avoid arrest and deportation), and photo album-type flip books with individual stories.

This is a woman's corset filled with ration coupons. There were many people who had to help the people in hiding, and one way was women pretending to be pregnant so they could steal and smuggle coupons and other papers.

In the lobby of the museum, there was an extensive collection of memorabilia from Eva Geiringer Schloss, a German girl who moved across the canal from the Frank family. Eva's family was happy and loving, but the Nazis prompted them to split up in hiding, Eva and her mother in one place, her brother and father in another. Both sets were soon betrayed and sent to Auschwitz. The men died in the camps, but Eva's brother had mentioned hiding some things in their attic. When Eva and her mother returned to Amsterdam, they found the stash of paintings and drawings done by Eva's brother and father. Eva's mother later married Otto Frank.

The almond blossom poster print I bought at the Van Gogh museum.

At the Mauritshuis, a unique and very realistic still life.

There was a big show of the cooperation between Rubens and Brueghel, the former painting figures and the latter the background and scenery. It was very interesting, because one would paint his section, and send it to the other, who would incorporate that and work on his section, and then send it back to the other, and so on. Several of their works featured these little guinea pigs in a corner. Strange but endearing, I suppose.

Exciting News!

Guess what?

The bookroom is DONE!
All the novels and textbooks have been noted and counted!

It's not actually done, of course, because I still need to do some serious cleaning and a lot more organizing, but that has to wait until there are fewer books in there. Because right now there are still piles and more piles, on the dusty, dirty concrete.

Even better than finishing, I got to show it off to my grade department! They were not quite as enthused as I was (probably a byproduct of the dust and dirt?), but they did express interest in a few things 'on display.' And isn't that the whole point? It's very exciting.

Not so exciting is the progress of my students. Ugh. I was just talking to Boyfriend about it and got a little worked up. Argh. More on that later.

On a happier but unrelated note, I now have TWO wins on two-suit spider solitaire. Much better news, indeed.

Countdown...

Two more days this week, and then the big day is next Tuesday. You know, the four-letter T-word.

We've been continuing to review all the skills. Last week we worked on f!gurative language, a little. They haven't mastered it at all, but all we needed for the T3ST was a basic introduction so they could recognize. We'll definitely work on it more, a lot, later.

Over the weekend the homework assignment was to reflect on all of our t3st pr3p, and write about what things have been effective for them to use on the test, and which skills or practice will not be useful, and which skills and strategies they need more practice with, along with suggestions for classwork to help improve those skills. Awesome, right?

When I finally read them on Tuesday morning, and noticed definite trends--poetry, writing, vocab, inferencing--I changed my 'plans'. [Note: I don't 'write' 'lessons.' I write up the topics to cover, and I try to come up with homework and maybe warm-ups. The actual teaching seems spontaneous, though it's not, because I've done or thought about it all before.] So we practiced with another set of poetry yesterday, and today we worked on vocab and inferences. For the thousandth time, I reminded them of the importance of GOING BACK TO THE PASS#GE to find either the answer or clues.

We'll also be working on--a little bit--identifying what each quest!on asks. When you understand the quest!on, and you go to the pass#ge, you can do the task effectively, and you will not get tricked, which will give you the correct answers and as many points as possible. Simple!

A Word from my Sponsors (I wish)

These are some things I can't travel without. Most of them are from ebags.com, which luckily for you, has a big sale going on right now! If you are a traveler in general, and/or you have an upcoming trip, I highly recommend them, and right now they're cheaper than usual. These packing cubes are a lifesaver. The three of them fit perfectly in a rolling suitcase 20-22". It prevents overpacking (of clothes, at least), and it makes your hotel/hostel stay extremely easy, because everything stays together! These cubes go on all trips with me.

You know how all toiletry bags are bulky and thick, and take up way too much room, and don't fit all your products to boot? Well, this toiletry kit is another complete lifesaver. It is amazing! It holds everything you need and it's less than two inches thick. And as you see, bottles are included, which would run ten bucks separately. The middle section opens and hangs, and there are three zippered pockets on the ends. They don't seem that big, but you can really cram a lot of stuff in there. It's all I need, and another product I never leave at home.Obviously, one always needs a good bag. I just bought this one, and it worked pretty well in Amsterdam. It's got the cover flap which buckles down, and underneath that the main pocket has a zipper, so it's very secure. There's a regular open pocket at the back, perfect for a guidebook or notebook. The front small pockets were perfect for tram tickets and iPod.


I never even leave the house without music. This past summer I received a hand-me-down (which equals FREE) mini iPod, and it totally changed my life. I was happy with my discman and CDs for many years, but the shuffle feature alone makes the iPod the best thing ever. I know, welcome to 2004, right? Yeah, well. The 4GB means I have to juggle albums, but it's not like I want to listen to every single album anyway. And sometime in the next year, I'll update to a sleek new shiny one, big enough to keep all the music plus back up all the digital photos on my computer. Anyway, hurrah iPod for being the most necessary nonnecessity of all time.

With my lovely iPod, I was excited about the possible soundtrack of my overseas trip, but very worried about the limited battery life. And how come no one else seems to talk about this? This battery back up unit is fantastic, and only twenty bucks! You plug it in to the iPod dock thing, and the unit holds four AA batteries and powers the iPod. AND, it charges the battery of the iPod! Bonus! Here's a close up:

Um, I know this all sounds cheesy and forced, but I swear by all of these products. If you get any of them, I know you will love them too. (I got the first two for Boyfriend and he likes them already!) Obviously, I didn't mean it when I said 'sponsors,' but if anyone emails me and wants to...awesome. :)

Madurodam

Madurodam is kind of a park of famous features of Holland, built on a 1/25 scale.

It was really neat, even though I'm not a kid.
Hans Brinker is the boy who plugged a dike. Except it's not a real legend; it's a made-up fairy tale from a book written by an American woman who'd never been to Holland.

I like these direction/distance signs. Apparently New York is just under 6000 meters away from The Hague.

Close up of the interior of the Binnenhof, the royal palace of The Hague. Here you can see the golden carriage of the Queen, military guard, commoners lining the square, and even a two-man film crew.

A moving carnival.

Canal street. When you put in a coin at this 'station', the wagon plays music and the puppets move. You can see an office behind, with two people sitting on opposite sides of a desk, as in an interview.

The Anne Frank Huis on the Prinsengracht.

A Dutch windmill. And a hungry little boy.

'Futuristic' homes built in Rotterdam in the 70s. On the left you see 'cube houses' built on their sides, and along the right you see houses bridging canals.

At the model of a candy factory, you can insert a coin (in the blue box), and the automated truck will fetch you a miniature piece of candy.

Full scale model of Schipol airport, featuring moving trams and baggage movers, and planes at terminals. Here I am kicking Northwest Airlines in retaliation for my sore back. Take that!

Just north of The Hague, the beach town of Schevingen.

An automated boat pulls a waterskier around the pond.

Tulip fields.

A giant wooden shoe. Behind, you can see models of ships and the rest of the attractions.

It's an expensive thing to do, but it was so neat to see all the little things and moving vehicles!

I definitely recommend visiting if you're ever around there.

Not the Normal Tourist Photos?

Anthropomorphised blessing
Maybe the "Rust" refers to the "Nonfood"? Either way, not such a great endorsement...

Good to know, I think.

Canal, deconstructed.

The eponymous Flying Pig.

"Modern Art" in the Museum Van Loon. For pete's sake.

Shape and function.

Moo. Or however you say it in Dutch. Maybe "mieuwe."

Plastic sprig of berries on the brick street.

Four equals bloody, leaking death!

And more to come!

What To Eat in Amsterdam...When You Don't Eat Anything

First night's dinner: crackers and Gouda cheese, a banana, mango juice, a salad with tasty yogurt dressing.

...and dessert: chocolate mousse in a cup! and real Fanta! And applebeignets--YUM.

Europe always has weird flavored salty snacks. You see some regular flavored chips, but you also see flavors like ketchup, or baked ham, or paprika, or sweet thai something. I tried some paprika salty straw things...and they were nasty. Blech. Happily, an applebeignet made it all better. So did some more chocolate mousse. Chocolate mousse makes everything better!

More Fanta, mousse, and some weird pear yogurt.

Mmm, more cheese and crackers!

See? Don't you want some chocolate mousse? That's dark chocolate, white chocolate, and caramel, all in one tasty and cheap cup.

Low Country treats: chocolate dipped waffle on the left, and oliebollen on the right: a big round fried dough ball dipped in powdered sugar.

A giant stroopwafel: two superthin waffles with sweet syrup in between.

"Cool American" chips and Sisi soda. And the awesomest thing ever: generic nutella in an individual packet! I saved it.

What to do with those pesky pre-teens?

Apparently the new hot topic is the unique plight of middle schools. About freaking time!

I could not agree more that teacher education is not only inadequate, but nonexistent, for the middle school years. I was put in an elementary program for the Fellows, and never even thought about middle school. Naturally, all courses were related to elementary school, in terms of development, literacy (learning rather than perfecting), and multiple content areas. Helpful, I'm sure, for the people who were actually teaching in an elementary school. Since I was placed in a middle school, most of my grad school courses were a complete waste of time with content, if not for professor incompetency.

I imagine that secondary teacher ed, grades 7-12, focuses on high school. Keeping kids from dropping out, preparing for college, very specific things for older kids. I can't imagine they'd focus much on the seventh and eighth grade teaching experience.

The point is, as the reporters are stating as if revealing a big secret, middle school is an entirely different bag. Beginning adolescence, being around others in beginning adolescence, and in a new, bigger, more individualized environment? Recipe for potential disaster. Throwing strategies at it won't help. Kids are going to be kids.

I firmly believe that changing grade set up will make things worse. Putting middle schools and high schools together? Are you kidding? We've already got eleven year old kids acting like full-grown delinquents, and you want to put them in a building with actual full-grown delinquents? You want to put them around the teenagers they're already trying so desperately to emulate, at the risk of their academic success?

And put them with little kids? The middle school is a very loud place, in a different way than elementary noise. There's more personal nastiness that goes on in middle school, with all the social cliques and raging hormones.

I've met teachers who are in K-8 buildings, with all self-contained middle school grades! Thirteen year olds in one room all day long with the same teacher! To me, that is one of the top five circles of hell for all involved. The kids need change, they need the few minutes between classes to relax a bit and act like kids, they need the exposure to different teachers and different teaching styles and personalities.

No, middle schools need to stay middle schools. Closing their schools won't change the kids. We must start addressing the issues the children are facing--how to cope with the hormones, the social changes and hostility, how to grow into a more mature student, how to be a good friend, dealing with more mature and pervasive bullying--basically, dealing with adolescence. I'm not sure that anything will make it a wonderful experience.

The other huge issue is teachers. Teachers make the school, teachers make success, good teachers help shape good students and successful children.

I've seen huge turnovers each year in my own school. My grade department has been fairly stable, but the other grades in my department have completely changed between my first year and this, my third. The eighth grade this year is such a mess that administrators have had to start teaching, because of vacancies or teachers leaving. There's one excellent teacher, but she can only do so much. Seventh grade has one great teacher and one decent teacher. My own grade has one teacher that is on her own planet, and one teacher that's brand new.

So with this situation, no wonder it's a nightmare to be anywhere near the upper grades. They've not had any stability, and their teachers are either absent, rotating subs, or new teachers who can't control them. Why do anything other than act out like crazy people?

But with middle school kids acting out like crazy people, who would willingly go teach them? Even though the good teachers manage and control them just fine, someone just starting would be like, are you insane?

Since actually starting to teach, I ended up being very grateful to be in a middle school. It's a special situation with plenty of downs, but there are good things. First, kids aren't babies. You don't have to take them to the bathroom or show them how to open a dictionary. They come to you with (some) existing skills. You get to talk to them on a pretty equal basis. There's certainly some watering down of vocabulary, but you can introduce real topics about the world and get them thinking with more maturity. And especially in sixth grade, they still have plenty of innocence and excitement to learn, and many of them are so eager to succeed and please the teacher. It's really easy for me to forget, but I have a lot of really sweet kids who try so hard.

I often forget that they're only eleven and that they don't know everything. They certainly think they know everything, but that's also part of their charm. If you can handle it. And they're still physically pretty small, which makes you want to protect them. Unless they're being a pain in the ass, then you want them to behave. :)

The other good thing that my mom told me--a middle school teacher for thirty years--is that to a middle school student, a day is like a year. If something bad happened yesterday, they've already forgotten it. They've moved on, and they're happy again and ready to go. So we, the adults, sometimes have to work on that, making each day about only that day, and not about the past. Every day each of us has the opportunity to succeed!

The upper grades of middle school and the high school age seems to be full of attitude and really thinking they know everything. If you've got a kid in 10th grade who's 'checked out' of school, there's not much you can do. But in middle school, you still have time and opportunity to pull them back in to a successful track. At least the chance, not that it will necessarily work.

Again, this brings me back to saying that combining grades will do more harm than good. Keep this unique age in a separate space to accommodate their unique needs, and start addressing their needs. Start peer tutoring or peer advisors programs. Start some programs dealing with young adulthood, separated by gender. Give them as many opportunities to move as possible, which means fixing the gym programs and giving equal space and equipment for both gym and outdoor recess time.

At the very, bare minimum, we *need* high-quality and especially patient teachers, we need smaller classes to accommodate the expanding personalities, and we need clean, well-equipped, safe, and secure facilities for the health of students and teachers alike. Sadly, these are things that seem to be nonexistent in all NYC schools, which makes it tough to persevere. Some days we just have to take it one day at a time because it can seem too much to deal with all at once.

In Response

First of all, I've been out of the country for a week, so I have a hell of a job to catch up with everyone's posts.

I just looked at Nani's blog, and saw a couple things that inspired a bit more than leaving little comments.

For one, no fair tagging memes while people are overseas!! :) Also, I'm so freaking open on this stupid blog that I'll actually have to *think* about what y'all don't know about me.

Next, that list of books drew my attention quickly, since I'm such a bookfiend, except I don't have terribly sophisticated taste. I have many 'classic' books on my list, but I don't tend to actually read them. And yes, I do have a list. It is three columns, typed up, in alphabetical order by author, and separated into fiction/nonfiction, and recently I added separate categories for young adult and classic. (And I guess I shouldn't be ashamed that, since I'm a teacher of young adults, I will be much more likely to read those than the classics.) So anyway, I don't really need to make a new list.

These are some of the books that I have on my shelf that I have not read or finished:
Typical American (Gish Jen)
Out of Africa (Isak Dinesen)
Angela's Ashes (Frank McCourt)
Autobiography of Malcolm X (Alex Haley)
Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
Misquoting Jesus (Bart Ehrman)
Lies My Teacher Told Me (James Loewen)
The Opposite of Fate (Amy Tan)
Guns, Germs, and Steel (Jared Diamond)

I have many more books back in Seattle that I have read, and that I have not read--things like Catch-22, .

So seeing a list like Nani's made me want to recommend some books. First, I saw A Prayer for Owen Meany on there--yay! that is one of my favorite books. So is Judith Guest's Ordinary People (I read that several times a year during college). The first teacher memoir book I ever read, back in high school, was The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy. The first huge book I read, also in high school, was Sacajawea by Anna Lee Waldo. Ooh, and Shutterbabe, a memoir of a photojournalist, is an incredible story. And everything by Barbara Kingsolver is a must-read.

...I could go on. But I'll force myself to stop!

Oh, and I have kept a list of all the books I've read since AmeriCorps, and last night I decided that needed to be typed up as well. Still in columns, it's four pages! There are a lot of mindless chick lit or YA books on there, so I can't take myself too seriously. :) I just read a grown-up book, The Monkey Wrench Gang, so that's good.

Next response topic:
Some of this comes with age, for sure but there is also knowledge that comes from exposure to a certain environment, like parents who read a lot and engage their children in thoughtful conversation, provide opportunities for travel, and so on. I would argue, at the risk of seeming politically incorrect, that these are things with which middle class kids grow up, not poor kids.

I think this is exactly the point of teaching in high-needs schools, and the plight affecting urban, nonwhite schools. Parents with lower income have to work longer hours, which means more hours the kid is entertaining himself with video games and less time for stimulating family talk about current events and moral issues; and there is less money for unnecessary but interesting things like travel.

As a white, middle class person, my experience is completely different from that of many of my students'. Often I feel guilty (white guilt! yes, it's real!), but other times I feel glad that I can try to bridge the gap, and if this doesn't sound too condescending, try to encourage them to work hard and succeed, so they can have a good life when they're adults. Isn't that the point of all education, though? To give kids a positive goal to reach for? To let them see the point of the seemingly silly school work and responsibility?

Third topic:
...strategies are not skills; they are simply tricks to aid in comprehension.

Thank you! I was so glad to see an expert say that in the magazine. Because though I hadn't quite put it into words, all the emphasis on 'strategy' bugs the crap out of me. You need to just read! In order to read, you need to spend time READING! Learn and practice reading a BOOK, not taking notes, not using freaking post-its for everything, just reading. I understand that doing those other things can aid in comprehension, and that is extremely important. But again, those things won't help until the children can actually read on their own.

It's the same thing that I was talking about in my ranting post recently. You can't teach a kid eight ways to multiply big numbers until she memorizes the single-digit times table.

Home Again

Welcome back, happy 2007, everyone. I am returned. This was a nice trip. Amsterdam isn't one of my favorite trips, and I won't need to return, but I did enjoy it. Its relaxed charm eventually won me over.

My last night, I tried to go to sleep before midnight. It sort of worked, although I almost didn't get up on time, because my travel alarm is too quiet. The train station was quite crowded, possibly with people still up or who didn't have a place to sleep last night. I'm glad I wasn't one of them!

I got to the airport quickly and easily. I checked in quickly and easily. I flew Northwest, which is part of KLM, which is an Amsterdam-based airline. That means their check-in area is huge, stocked with many self-check-in kiosks, just like JetBlue in JFK. Very easy! Once I got to the gate, they had already started pre-boarding. More quick and easy! Good job, Amsterdam.

This time the plane ride wasn't as bad, thank goodness. Still uncomfortable, but not as much so. Maybe I was used to it? I'm not sure what made the difference. I watched three movies and tried to nap (unsuccessfully).

Surprisingly, the post-deplaning in Newark went quickly and easily too: in the span of half an hour, I got off the plane (I officially did not forget or lose anything on this trip, including myself. Hurrah!), got through customs (stamped Jan 01 2006--oops), picked up my suitcase (thank goodness I bought the new one with the extra expanding three inches, for all the souvenirs and gifts!), and got on the AirTrain. Wow!

Unfortunately, I suppose because it was a holiday, the NJ Transit was not running according to the schedules posted, so everyone had to wait for over half an hour for a train back to the city. Happily, the weather, though extremely foggy, was quite pleasant after the constant chill of Amsterdam, and needing hat, gloves and scarf at all times. At the Newark train platform, I was perfect in just a sweater. Still kind of warm, actually.

Boyfriend met me in Penn Station and accompanied me back to Queens, patiently listening to my weeklong backlog of chatter. It was so wonderful to have him there!

My apartment was just as cute as I left it, and naturally it was relieving and surreal to be back. I immediately began picture downloading and unpacking bags and sorting souvenirs and dirty laundry (all of it, especially since the smoke infiltrated everything I wore). We had a dinner of potatoes and edamame. What a relief not to have to shop for it right then, and how great that I didn't have to pay for it right then either!

I continued my organizing and tidying, which felt nice. Though I can be extremely messy and lazy, I do have enough of a compulsive streak to enjoy getting things put together and organized (thus my insane volunteering to fix the bookroom. Oh, and I have updated photos to share about that too). So it made me feel a lot better to get that taken care of. I have a big pile of souvenir postcards and things that I need to go through and enjoy.

Another decoration project I've been meaning to do lately is make a large collage of all the souvenir postcards that I have, which is a lot just from the past year. The problem now is where to put them, because I've gotten a good amount of walls covered. Perhaps more in the kitchen with the macro flower pictures.

I've got all my pictures on my computer, and they're all facing the right direction now, and I made Boyfriend look through them with me. They include a lot of random nothing pictures. Far too many canal photos. And as I was afraid, the cloud cover made many photos come out a little dark. Boo. For that reason, I relived the glory of seeing sunshine in my photos. At this moment, I am uploading all the photos on Snapfish. Then I will go through and select some nice ones to post and email.

Somehow I was not really tired yesterday afternoon. Once again, it seemed like an extremely long day, getting up before 7am and going to bed at 2am Amsterdam time (8pm in New York). I didn't think I'd make it even that long.

I already miss the accepted abundance of Nutella for breakfast and chocolate mousse in cups at the supermarket. I would really love both of those things every day of my life. Though I would certainly grow back out of my size 6/8. But who would care? Nutella and chocolate mousse!

Boy, isn't it the greatest thing to come home to your own bed? The hostel beds were quite comfortable, but my bed is the best. I squealed in delight and sighed with relief and pleasure.

I slept fairly well, and was awake by 5am. I figure I should go into school early, to put desks back and get back in teacher mode, and get ready to deal with the holiday children.

Either I've been getting sick or the smoke has been getting to me. My throat hurts and I'm congested. Uh oh. Wish me luck getting through today, with jet lag and travel brain and exciteable students and THE TEST IN NINE DAYS! God knows they won't let us forget that, though they WILL do things like take them on FIELD TRIPS in December and play music so loud in the cafeteria that the entire wing of classrooms shakes and constantly interrupt with announcements and assemblies and other such nonsense.

Blah. I feel like I should be rested now; I've been awake almost an hour, but I'm still a bit groggy.

I really have to go to school today? And then do chores like laundry and bathroom cleaning and floor sweeping? Ugh. I need a vacation.