2001-10-05
End of a stressful week, posted at 7:28 a.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com It's Friday, and this eventful and stressful week is coming to a close.The good: I got a dog. He's been a great addition to my life. Yesterday, I came home from work and sat on the couch, and he jumped up on my lap and hugged me and stayed there for a long time. It's so nice to have unadulterated love in my life, even if it's in the form of a canine. When I came home and saw him so happy to see me, I felt the stress melt away. He didn't care how long I'd been gone, that my observation went only mediocrely, that my best friend is about to make a huge life mistake. He just cared that I was home. It was great. It's only been three days since I've had him, but we've both become pretty attached. I still haven't figured out the name, but I'm thinking of Holden, even if the roommates don't necessarily care for it.
The bad: *I had my first formal observation of my career yesterday, and I'm not sure how it went. The post-meeting this morning will shed light on that. But I know there were certain things that didn't go well. I was teaching Emerson - who I hadn't read previous to this week, and is easily the toughest writer I've ever taught. I think the kids who listened yesterday as we went through it "got" it, but I'm sure some fell by the wayside - the sleepers and the talkers. Plus, the observation happened on what was the most stressful and worst morning of the year so far, when I left the house right after my roommate told me he was quitting his job. That was all I could think about. Maybe I'll mention that in this meeting. We'll see.
*I had my first parental run-in on censorship this week, as parents of a 9th grader objected to the "lesbian theme" of Annie John and informed me that their daughter would no longer be reading the text. Now, I didn't pick out the book, nor did I even do much with it - it was summer reading, and students are writing a characterization paper about it and "Of Mice and Men." But it still stung. I can't believe that ignorant hate is still clouding the minds of people. Plus, it means a whole lot of extra work for me, as this girl now has to read an alternate text and I have to think of alternate assignments for her.
*I'm neck deep in paperwork and behind in other requirements. I've gotten a number of memos this week that went to the whole department that detail due dates of certain items, and I don't know what any of the things are. No one has explained anything. There's some sort of test that students have to take, and there's some service learning project that I have to design, as well as an open house event that I have to plan. I don't know much about any of them. I feel like I have to corner my department head and ask her, but she's too busy and I'm too behind to really worry about it.
*The roommate thing - my roommate/best friend is seriously considering quitting his teaching job and going back to school despite the fact that it's only a month into the year, he's always wanted to be a teacher, he has no money and is in mountains of student loan and credit card debt, and has no alternate plans. I was really stressed about it yesterday, but less so today. It's his life. Whatever. If he wants to make a poor decision, it'll be on him. I've made my feelings known. Yesterday, he told me this line of BS: "This is a tough decision. Either way, I know I'm going to regret it." I told him that wasn't true. If he quits, he will definitely regret it, because he'll always think that things could have gotten better (as they usually do). And there's no going back if he changes his mind. If he doesn't quit, however, he always has that option still, but hasn't closed down everything else either. Quitting eliminates options, thus has the opportunity to evoke regret, while staying at the job keeps those options open. He can look elsewhere for work while he's teaching and go from there. If he finds something wonderful in three weeks and teaching hasn't gotten better, he can quit then. Or, maybe (probably) teaching will get better. The thing is, he's already tried the private sector. He wasn't successful. His major of social studies is not in high demand. How quickly memory fades. Anyhow, I'm not stressed out about it anymore. He's guaranteed me that he's going to stay in Balto with me. (What a local I've become... I'm calling it "Balto") And it's his life. Whatever.
*I haven't been as active as I usually am this week, so this has decreased my attitude a bit. I didn't work out Monday morning, worked out Tuesday and Wednesday and ran Thursday night, but that's all. I came in early this morning, but no one else came in so I couldn't work out. Ugh.
The plan now is to go to the movies tonight. I haven't been to the movies yet in the city, so it should be fun.
I still haven't named my dog. Jason doesn't really like Holden, but I think he can handle it if it's true. We've take to calling him whatever we want, so I need to do it soon. I've put up some new names in the quizlet. Don't worry - it'll be gone next week so the page will load quicker then.