10:30 AM
I'm having a serious attack of the boreds.
You see, there is testing going in my school this week. I'm not even sure what it is, although someone said yesterday at the faculty meeting that they're testing ninth and tenth graders, even though it's only a tenth grade test, because they want the ninth graders to start early at feeling comfortable being tested in a high school setting. This is so they will all pass the state graduation test -- which we call the HSPA -- in eleventh grade.
There are more things wrong with this picture than I can even count.
Anyway, generally, when there's testing, I stay in the library and keep an eye on those few dolts who forgot there was testing and came in late, or who are upperclassmen and came in early. But now I got me no library, so I had hall duty for the first hour today, possibly the first time I've ever had hall duty, even. But I digress. Hall duty during testing means you can sit there and read or grade papers or whatever, so I brought magazines. Now that I'm back in my computer garrett though, there is a whole lot of nothing to do. No classes, of course, and I'm all caught up on ID card printing. We do have classes for the rest of the day once the testing is over, so we'll be plenty busy (and claustrophobic), but there's another half hour or so of this, then the SCM's lunch, then mine, and more ID cards to come. I have about 150 left to do out of an original 400+ something, so that's not too bad. As always, the kids have been very nice. And either I've magically become much better at taking these pictures, or we have a very good looking freshman class. The only thing is, some of the girls seem to think they're Paris Hilton, because I say "Okay, now" and they strike a goofy pose, with their heads to the side, looking coy, or at least what they think is coy. It's your high school ID card, girls. Get some perspective.
Anyway, the testing will go on every morning for the rest of this week. It's hard to tell when we'll be testing again, because we got an extremely extensive schedule, but lots of it is make-up days. HSPA seems to be in March now. It used to be in October, and the test included Junior-year level math, so naturally, most of the kids didn't know it because it was only October of their junior year. Duh.
I'm glad at least that I wasn't given an assignment to proctor an exam. I hate that. I never liked it before, but I think it would be a real disadvantage to me and to the kids in the room because of my hearing, not to mention the extreme boredom factor, since proctors can't read or have coffee or do anything but stand there and look at the kids.
10:36. I'm all alone in the room, and stuck in the back corner of it. I just put an episode of Futurama on the video iPod, with speakers turned down low so I don't have to put headphones on. I love this thing.
5:15
It was my early day today, so I left school around 2:45, dashed home to change, and went to the gym for my second go at the cardio test that will determine what my workout program will be. I failed again, but just by an eensy bit. It needed to see my heart rate up to 125 for the test to work, but I only got up to 124. (Maybe if I had understood what it needed, at 124 I could have waved my arms around or something.) So I'm going for another try tomorrow. Today I was on a recumbent bike machine, and I'll be on some kind of bike tomorrow, too. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. Hey, I got a good workout, anyway, and I'm impressed that these people keep trying.
I dropped by the Sibs on my way home, which was fun; she had dropped by here yesterday, so I thought I'd return the favor. It's not something we generally do, what with working (although she's retired now) and her husband, who likes to be in her presence 24/7, but he's away from Monday morning to Tuesday evening, so that explains that. Opportunity seized.
K is home now, and we're both exhausted. But food must be procured somehow. Let me think.
