I have a confession. I'm hooked on Oxygen TV. I've been binging true crime for the whole three-day weekend: Accident, Suicide, or Murder.Snapped. In Ice Cold Blood. It's a sickness, I tell you! At one point, I had 38 episodes of Snapped saved, and now I'm down to 26.
3 more days of school! I'm so excited! Then one day for teachers only. Have I mentioned that I'm excited?
We have post-poned our Vegas trip to later in the summer, but our trip to see my daughter in Austin is of. That's exciting, too!
Dinner tonight will be special. We're celebrating our wedding anniversary.
I respect Mary Kubica's writing talent, but I didn't enjoy this book as much as the other two I have read by her. This one was odd.
As usual, chapters alternate between two character's points-of-view. On one hand, there is Quinn Collins, 20-something, para-legal, Chicago resident, trying to figure out why her roommate Esther is missing. The more she explores, the more she believes Esther killed her previous roommate and may be trying to kill her. On the other hand, there is 18 year old Alex Gallo who lives in a lake-side Michigan town two hours from Chicago who is schlepping in a dead-end job in a diner to support his alcoholic father instead of heading off on full scholarship to college. When a mysterious woman appears in town, he is immediately drawn to her.
The stories and events of these two characters will converge, but it will take a while to figure out what they have in common. You will think you know, but trust me, you will be surprised. What I didn't like about this particular book that wasn't an issue in her others is that it is a little macabre - ghosts, cemeteries, haunted houses, a dead child, and such.
I liked this book, but I can't say it is as good as The Good Girl or Every Last Lie. I think I am going to read Pretty Baby. I have heard that one is edge-of-your-seat like Every Last Lie.
It's almost over. The school year, that is. Students have 6 school days remaining, and teachers have 7. I. Can't. Wait. It has been a tremendously long school year. I have been teaching an extra class this year meaning I have no "off" period to make copies, make calls, plan, or grade. It's been tiring, but the end is in sight. I still haven't decided if I'm going to retire or teach one more year. I've been teaching longer than some of you have been alive, probably!
And speaking of work, have you ever had a lunch thief at work? I have never had my lunch stolen, but I've heard from people who have. I wonder what possesses someone to take someone else's lunch. Wouldn't they be afraid they'd be caught? Not to mention forcing someone to go without or, God forbid, eat school cafeteria food!
According to CNBC, 1 in 5 people admit to having stolen from the community refrigerator. That's a lot! One man told how he put hot sauce and ghost chili pepper on his leftover wings so he could catch the thief. Or you could try this:
My husband tells the story of a secretary at his office who was stealing food, among other things. She was finally caught, and, of course, fired. Can you imagine the embarrassment? Or maybe that's the problem. Some people just have no shame.
Peanuts was one of my favorites as a kid. I had several books of Peanuts comics. I just love Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and the whole gang! (Click to see pictures larger)
Many of my books were the "old style" Charlie Brown/Peanuts characters. They weren't comic books, but they were paperback books with cartoon after cartoon in them. I LOVED them!
Observations from a teacher's point-of-view about state-mandated, high-stakes, standardized testing.
1. Being required to teach to the test.
2. Not having students I know in my testing group.
3. Children sitting for five hours or more without moving, talking, interacting. Teachers unable to look at computer, read, grade, or do anything productive during testing time.
4. Field questions on tests (questions that don't count that are put on the test to determine if they should be "real" questions on the next test).
5. Eating lunch later instead of our normal time AND having to eat sack lunches in the classroom. Crazy schedule!
6. Students thinking the standardized test is the end of the school year although we have 2 1/2 weeks of instruction left.
7. The company that profits from generating the test itself.
8. Companies that profit from creating practice testing materials. (millions)
9. Non-educators creating and scoring the test.
10. The stress both teachers and students feel.
11. Paperwork nightmare - keeping up with over 1,000 test booklets and answer sheets PER TEST and keeping them in order. (all grade levels reading and math, 1 level writing, 1 level science and social studies - 8th graders take FOUR tests NOT INCLUDING end-of-course algebra and/or biology for high school credit)
12. Kids are all different, but they have to take the same test.
13. A four hour test is only a snapshot of a student's ability. It could be a good day, bad day, indifferent day.
I hope all of you moms had a wonderful Mother's Day. As I sit here looking at the beautiful flowers my son gave me, the lavender plant, letter, gift card, and Bath & Body Works from my daughter, and flowers from my step-daughter, I realize how incredibly blessed I am. Not because I got these gifts, but because of the way my children have grown into caring, generous, empathic adults. I was able to see my mom on Mother's Day as well, making it close to perfect, except for not seeing ALL of the kids in person, and except for having to go to Lowe's. But Lowe's turned out okay, too, because I got to choose new tile for my bathroom. How lucky am I?
On the other hand, have you ever noticed when you take a day "off," you just have more to do the next day? Whether it's shopping, cleaning, cooking, whatever... it's there waiting for you the next day! But... that's okay, too. It's what I signed up for when I decided to be a wife and mother.
We are in the midst of state testing this week at school. I hate it. For five hours, teachers are not allowed to be on the computer or phone, read a book, grade papers, nothing. Monitor students. Sit and look at them all day. Walk around the room every few minutes. Keep them quiet when they're finished until the whole school is finished. That's difficult! And my assigned testing group has some troublemakers in it. Oh, what fun! *sarcasm, in case you didn't know*
I'm not even going to get into whether the test itself is worthwhile. I could write pages and pages about that! When seeing things positively, it does mean that the end is in sight!
In case you haven't heard, it's raining buckets in Southeast Texas! Some areas are flooding. Others are experiencing flash floods and electricity outages. In fact, I better hurry or I won't have power! So, today, I bring you... RAIN!
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