Monday, November 15, 2004
Fragmented Thoughts...
Over the past few weeks I've had tons of minor incidents that were nearly the subject of postings, but fell by the wayside. I suppose this is the nature of life that there are simply too many details for a person to keep total track of...unless that person happens to be a Joyce or Proust. Being neither, I find myself unfortunately bound to only reflect briefly on these incidents in a scattershot pattern...like a jigsaw puzzle dumped out of a box. Perhaps I'll find a pattern in the mishmash, but perhaps it's more like a Rohrscach blot and the pattern exists only in my mind.
Consider:
A student slamming my door shut, opening it, kicking it shut, opening it again, and kicking it shut again before storming off...the reason? Unknown. Could it be the fight with the class's smartest student? Could it be my veiled suggestion he might have cheated on a quiz? I don't know. I don't care. He's suspended.
A student first period asks me if I have a girlfriend...offers to set me up with a mathematician or a scientist. A Harvard girl with an MBA. Later is heard to remark to a friend, "who would ever want him?" Says the fat, ignorant, foul-mouthed bundle of behavior issues to the reasonably well-educated science teacher.
Am I the only one who believes students should sit an assigned seat? And if not, how the hell do the others get them to just stay put? It's like frickin' musical chairs most days. I mark students absent if they aren't in their seats, but still... I know in high school , most of us could handle sitting in a desk the teacher assigned. At least for an hour.
My students nearly came to blows today over which zodiac sign was the best. Also, they're still highly amused by the zodiac sign Cancer.
Why do overhead bulbs blow out so damn quickly? Perhaps I over use the machine...but at the same time, imagine how class would be if I had to put up notes on the board?
Lab? We have a lab? Why did I ever tell them we have a lab?!?
I'm not old enough for this job, at least physically. My students have been raised to respect their elders. Not their teachers. Their elders. Now most of the time these two groups intersect, but I am not old enough...at least in appearance. I tell them to sit down, and they don't give a damn. And again the issue of consequences...why should they sit down? They don't care.
They don't care. I'm tired of gastropods who come to my room, ooze around, but do no actual work. Make no attempt to learn. Sit, socializing with their fellow slugs. I long for the educational equivalent of salt to poor on their poor shell-less, brain-less bodies. Sadly, this remains only in the metaphoric stage.
I like the idea of students applying for jobs for extra credit...but I really need to tweak the application form a little more. Also, I can't announce the positions until I know exactly what they are. Like will I have a book manager? If so, where will the books go? I have a cart...but it's broken. Perhaps it will be fixed tomorrow.
And the desk I left outside my room on Friday (also broken) was still there this morning. Even though you can flip the top up due to several missing bolts. It's like something out of The Chocolate War.
Speaking of which, The Chocolate War....very underrated book. Don't disturb the universe, Goober, no matter what the posters say.
My trip to Rutgers and proctoring the SATs two weekends ago (the latter where I read The Chocolate War) threw off my regular schedule. Wasn't enough laundry to do on Sunday.
Oh, and speaking of SATs...how odd to see a group of students actually sit quietly through a 3.5 hr. test! Respectfully, quietly, all in rows. It was beautiful.
If I could only get the italics to turn off, maybe I could end this thing...
Oh to hell with it.
(end communication)
SK
Over the past few weeks I've had tons of minor incidents that were nearly the subject of postings, but fell by the wayside. I suppose this is the nature of life that there are simply too many details for a person to keep total track of...unless that person happens to be a Joyce or Proust. Being neither, I find myself unfortunately bound to only reflect briefly on these incidents in a scattershot pattern...like a jigsaw puzzle dumped out of a box. Perhaps I'll find a pattern in the mishmash, but perhaps it's more like a Rohrscach blot and the pattern exists only in my mind.
Consider:
A student slamming my door shut, opening it, kicking it shut, opening it again, and kicking it shut again before storming off...the reason? Unknown. Could it be the fight with the class's smartest student? Could it be my veiled suggestion he might have cheated on a quiz? I don't know. I don't care. He's suspended.
A student first period asks me if I have a girlfriend...offers to set me up with a mathematician or a scientist. A Harvard girl with an MBA. Later is heard to remark to a friend, "who would ever want him?" Says the fat, ignorant, foul-mouthed bundle of behavior issues to the reasonably well-educated science teacher.
Am I the only one who believes students should sit an assigned seat? And if not, how the hell do the others get them to just stay put? It's like frickin' musical chairs most days. I mark students absent if they aren't in their seats, but still... I know in high school , most of us could handle sitting in a desk the teacher assigned. At least for an hour.
My students nearly came to blows today over which zodiac sign was the best. Also, they're still highly amused by the zodiac sign Cancer.
Why do overhead bulbs blow out so damn quickly? Perhaps I over use the machine...but at the same time, imagine how class would be if I had to put up notes on the board?
Lab? We have a lab? Why did I ever tell them we have a lab?!?
I'm not old enough for this job, at least physically. My students have been raised to respect their elders. Not their teachers. Their elders. Now most of the time these two groups intersect, but I am not old enough...at least in appearance. I tell them to sit down, and they don't give a damn. And again the issue of consequences...why should they sit down? They don't care.
They don't care. I'm tired of gastropods who come to my room, ooze around, but do no actual work. Make no attempt to learn. Sit, socializing with their fellow slugs. I long for the educational equivalent of salt to poor on their poor shell-less, brain-less bodies. Sadly, this remains only in the metaphoric stage.
I like the idea of students applying for jobs for extra credit...but I really need to tweak the application form a little more. Also, I can't announce the positions until I know exactly what they are. Like will I have a book manager? If so, where will the books go? I have a cart...but it's broken. Perhaps it will be fixed tomorrow.
And the desk I left outside my room on Friday (also broken) was still there this morning. Even though you can flip the top up due to several missing bolts. It's like something out of The Chocolate War.
Speaking of which, The Chocolate War....very underrated book. Don't disturb the universe, Goober, no matter what the posters say.
My trip to Rutgers and proctoring the SATs two weekends ago (the latter where I read The Chocolate War) threw off my regular schedule. Wasn't enough laundry to do on Sunday.
Oh, and speaking of SATs...how odd to see a group of students actually sit quietly through a 3.5 hr. test! Respectfully, quietly, all in rows. It was beautiful.
If I could only get the italics to turn off, maybe I could end this thing...
Oh to hell with it.
(end communication)
SK
