2001-10-10
Holden's vet trip, open house, tv, posted at 7:50 a.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Not much that interesting has been happening, hence the lack of an entry yesterday.Holden had his first trip to the veterinarian yesterday. He's an extremely healthy dog, according to the doc. He's also a very good boy - I couldn't believe how calm he was there, even rolling on his back to let me rub his stomach in the waiting room while there were other dogs and a big fat cat around. We celebrated last night by taking a 2.8 mile run which felt great. He probably get a bit frustrated when we go running, because I don't let him stop and sniff stuff, but he's getting it. The dog commented that he is extremely calm for being such a young dog. I really lucked out.
That being said, Holden peed on the wall yesterday. It was my fault, though, because Nate called from Michigan and we were chatting. In my other ear, I saw Holden at the door whining, but I ignored him and figured he could wait until I was done. Well, he couldn't. He bounded upstairs (to which I thought, "Yay! Mike will distract him for a while"), and promptly peed on the wall. Oh well. He felt bad about it, though. You could tell. I blame myself.
Yup, I decided on a name. The final voting was 64 votes, and 25% of them said "Holden." 33% said "Ashton," but that wasn't really an option for me, as my dog isn't an elderly British butler. That's what Ashton sounds like to me. While "Atticus" actually made a late run in the end, because I am so into "To Kill a Mockingbird" right now, I decided that three syllables are a bit much. I outruled both "Edgar" and "Langston" because I had bettas named those names, and Gale tells me it's bad luck to have repeat pet names. She apparently kept getting kittens when she was younger that she always named "Spunky," and they all died. That was evidence enough for me. So Holden it was.
Yesterday, I had the interesting experience of assigning reading to students that I forgot to do myself. I realized it about five minutes before the class started, while I was teaching the previous hour's class. I tried to start reading it as I ended that particular class, but it was no use. I also tried to skim through the chapter while my class was doing their drill, but my supervisor stopped in to observe how my drills were going (I'm not a big "drill" person to begin with, but starting class more efficiently is one of the things that her observation said I should work on, thus I'm doing them). Anyhow, I felt stupid. It's even worse that the kids are really into the book and loudly discussing/arguing about it. Boy, did I feel dumb. I had even told the kids they would have a quiz over the material I had assigned.
However, I sort of got around it. I had them to author three quiz questions from the chapter, and used those questions to give the oral quiz. The questions jogged my memory of the last time I had read "To Kill a Mockingbird" (my freshmen year of high school ten years ago), and I was able to use them to remember details. The class was disorganized and not one of my finest teaching moments, but I faked it well. I've also got them so well-controlled now that we do some reading in class and some at home every day, and the reading in class consists of me saying who is going to read ("Okay, it'll be Shamia, and then Khadija, and then Jordan, and then Richard, and then Tabitha, etc") and them just doing as much reading as they see fit and saying, "Okay, next." They even help each other out with word pronounciations and such. Yesterday, I acted like I was reading along with them, but actually graded papers and listened. I think it's more a testament of them enjoying the book then my wonderful classroom management, but it's still neat to oversee.
Today, I've volunteered to work at the Open House for 8th graders interested in attending this high school next year. I'm going to stand at the table of the English curriculum, answering questions about the books and courses we teach. Considering I've only been here a month and have only taught two of the four core courses, my answers may not be correct, but I will be polite and friendly about it. The Open House runs from 7-8:30, and I think I'm going to stay here all the way through and get as much paperwork as possible completed. The ending time means I'm going to have to rush back in order to catch the real season premiere of The West Wing, which I've been looking forward to for months. I also may have to call my roommates and have them tape Ed, which I got into in a big way this summer during its reruns. But I'm not sure if the season premiere is tonight or not - it might be The Great Race or Lost or some crap like that. I dunno.
It's scary how much television rules my life during the school year. Mondays and Tuesdays I can take or leave (my only must-see from those two nights is Undeclared, which makes me miss college and laugh at the same time... I'll watch Everybody Loves Raymond and King of Queens, but life isn't over if I miss them. Boston Public tends to be a must-see as well, and Ally McBeal has "catch it if I can" status but those don't premiere until the 29th of October or something), but Wednesday and Thursday are full of must-sees - Ed, The West Wing, Law & Order, Friends, Survivor, Will & Grace, and ER. Sundays too (Alias, The Simpsons, and The Practice).
Morning announcements are now coming on. I better go.