Countdown

The seniors have three weeks left. About a third of them are failing. They're in denial, or they just don't care. Or they have some kind of magical thinking that they can pull it out in 3 weeks. That goes with the same thinking that says you can rack up dozens of unexcused absences and still pass.

I read them the riot act in all three of my Economics classes. We'll see if it does any good. The thing is, 6th period has 4 A's. One is the Valedictorian, but the other's just do the work.

The thing is, my worst class is full of 11th graders. So much to look forward to.

Kurt Vonnegut Jr

With all this noise about Imus, I'd like to acknowledge the transition of someone who truly mattered.

I first read Vonnegut when PIayer Piano was assiged to my Intor to Data Processing class in 1967 (we used punch cards on mainframes.) I encountered Cat's Cradle at the right time in my life, as a sophomore at NMSU in 1968. I remember reading Mother Night with laughter and outrage. I still count Slaughterhouse Five as right up there with Huckleberry Finn as one of the best American novels. He used satire in a gentle way. His whimsey was serious. He knew and used the language to take me somewhere else, with though and purpose. Kurt Vonnegut Jr was truly a Great American Writer.

Time's running out

Officially, we have six weeks left, plus finals. The seniors have 15 instruction days, if you count each flex day as 1. They're getting squirrely. I'm getting ready. I'm almost to, "I'm only going to teach them what I have time to teach them."

The thing is, I've got a lot of seniors who are failing, and they either don't care or they're in total denial. I try to tell them. They know what they need to do to pass. But they just keep cruising along, screwing around. The thing is, this is a required course. They don't pass, they don't graduate. They have one more month.

Assembly Schedule

What is it with word searches? They take to them like ducks to water, even the seniors.

Today we had our Spring Sports Assembly. It only cuts the normal period by 10 minutes, but you'd think by the reaction that we were doing a half-day. The assemblies are between 1st & 2nd periods, and it takes until 5th or 6th for them to settle. Since they won't/can't focus on most things, these are the days I give vocabulary worksheets. Try and get a student to answer an oral question today, or even hear it for that matter, and you'll beat yourself to death with futility. But put a word search in front of them, and they'll get right to it.

It's Pavlovian. They've been getting worksheets since they were 7 or 8 years old. They know what to do with them. I'm sure they don't even realize how they respond. I just sat back and worked on lesson plans. It's a trip to occaisionally look at them and see how hard they're working. Tomorrow starts a 3 day weekend, on the heels of Spring Break. They got some exposure to vocabulary, had fun with something familiar, and didn't drive me crazy.

Break's Over

Spring break is over. We came back yesterday. I didn't like my students much yesterday. They all had head full of granite. It would have taken a diamond-tip bit to get anythng in there.

I posted grades today. Pandemonium! They've started counting. They've started paying attention. We'll see if they're ready to start acting.