I'm catching cold.
I usually get one bad cold each winter. This is my third in eight weeks. Blah!
Tomorrow I have a day-long training session at the District Office to prepare me to prepare my children for the NYS Reading test they'll take in January. Today, the Title I Math teacher gave my class the practice test for the NYS Math test they'll take in May. And when she was driving me to the subway, the Science teacher said, "How do I break it to your class about their science test [that she gave them last Friday]?" It's all about tests just now. I'm not sanguine about any of the results.
When I walked back into my classroom this afternoon as the class' Music class ended, I had trouble opening the door because two of my girls were fighting. (Only three of the girls in my class come up as far as my waist; these were two of the small ones.) So, once again, I spent the end of the day dealing with a fight. On top of that, one of my students wasn't in the room; my para and the students said that his sister had taken him to talk to another teacher. Problem is, I don't think he has a sister. Anyway, he came back with his face all screwed up, got his things and left the classroom. He refused to answer my questions about what was going on. Some of the students who had taken a note to the Office for me said that his Mother was there. When I called the Office to say that he had walked out of my room, I was told there were no parents there. Still, the Science teacher told me that she had seen him with his Mother, so . . ..
The bizarre thing is, the kids were very good online this morning, and very good through most of the literacy block. They were so good, I gave them stickers. During the Math test, it started to fall apart; they can't seem to get the concept of no talking during an exam. On Monday, I had to confiscate about 8 spelling tests -- including one from my best student. I've tried explaining that talking during the state exams will guarantee that they have to do summer school, and maybe fourth grade again, because the tests will be taken away by the proctors, but it makes no impression.
I went to the Orthopedic Surgeon today, since I fell on my stairs last Wednesday and stayed home from school: my ankle was the size of a grapefruit, and I spent the day with my foot in a bucket of ice water. I've been limping around with an elastic brace on my ankle. Now I'm wearing an aircast, and I have a note from the doctor, so my absence won't count as "unattended". (We get 4 "unattended" sickdays; any other sick days require a doctor's note, or you get docked.) I took two days when I had my last cold, so I'm really not happy about feeling ill tonight. Still, the training session shouldn't be as strenuous as a day of teaching. If I go to bed early tonight, take it easy tomorrow and get to bed early tomorrow night, maybe I can last until the weekend.
I'm off to bed. Blah!
Posted by mata at October 29, 2002 09:25 PM