The end is near...

Two weeks left of teaching... woot! And Erikaki & Michelaki are coming on Thursday. Hopefully this will be a good week.

Buffy used in teaching

I now have an excuse to talk about Buffy in class!

Now my kids can really say I'm a geek...although some say I have only opened the door to geekdom.

My ankle is still a wee bit sore. I'll live.

Ow! That hurts!

So I managed to slightly sprain my ankle today, first thing in the morning too. You should have seen the kids, they didn't quite believe me when I hobbled into the hallway after sliding off 3 steps in the stairwell, painfully requesting for some help, I had to add "I'm serious..." to my request since none of them flinched. They probably all thought that I was joking as I usually am that early in the morning, caffeine not quite hitting my brain yet.

Not too painful, but achy enough to make me twinge, this little mishap gave me a good reason to stay parked on my ass all day. Saved my energy for Cooking Club: we made sushi and boy-oh-boy was it ever scrumptious! There are some really good sushi rollers among the grade 10 students, I was impressed by how well they managed to roll their first makis. They probably had a good teacher ;-)

Da Big 3-0

Three fun-filled days of dinners, massages and partying to celebrate da big 3-0...

... let the rhumatisms begin ;-P

Thank you everyone for the lovely gifts. Tonight was awesome =)

When they actually listen

It always surprises me when my students actually shut up and listen. In Ethics, I gave a Dummy's version of the Great Schism in 1054 and, wow, they listened! I call it the Dummy's version because I use colorful expressions... they like that. Makes historical characters interesting for teenagers.

"Miss, they really didn't say f*** off, did they?"
"No Dave, but I imagine it was something a wee bit more polite... or something in Greek."

So I had the entire class listening and even asking questions. I love classes like that. I actually get to teach!

The end is going to be a pain...

...yeah, I may have spoken too soon about my joyous gidyness regarding the end of the school year. Students are beginning to act like major idiotic morons who have nothing better to do than fart around in the hallways. You know kids, why are you beings such pricks by cluttering valuable learning space? Go outside, skip class like you mean it, don't be half-hearted about it all. If you are going to not pay attention and do nothing in class, then go all the way. Trust me, many of us, and not just teachers, would be happier about it all.

Of course, I don't mean it. That would be unethical.

Right.

It's soooooo close I can almost smell it...

About 3 and a half weeks left of teaching... then it's exam time. That's already a good start. It's very close to the end of the school year. Blink and you might miss a couple of days. I pity the kids who still sleep in class, they are going to miss a crap-load of revision material for their exams. Or they can wake up in time for tests. That can be pretty sweet too, come to think of it.

It's also close to Da Big Three-O... I'm as giddy as an over exuberant weather girl. It's sickening.

It's also closer (but still some time away) to Serenity and Angst Technology has chosen to draw a strip about it. Yes, it was cancelled, but only because certain networks, like the WB for instance, cannot appreciate innovative programs with imaginative stroylines. I am still bitter about Angel getting cancelled. Grr...

By the way, Mister Intenseness... update your page, bonté divine!

No strike...

I can rest easy... members of our union (including myself) voted against a bank of 5 strike days. It would have represented about 1000$ less of pay... something that doesn't appeal to me. It was the first time I voted at a PTU meeting and it took money releated issues to get me out to vote.

Now for something completely different... HEY CARLO! I UPDATED MY PAGE, UPDATE YOURS NOW! =P

Hehe...

If it looks like a Monday, feels like a Monday...

... then it must be a Monday. Hell, it even smells like a Monday. My classroom smells rather stale when the windows are kept closed for 3 days.

It's been a so-so productive morning. I am ahead of the game: already brought my grade11 exam to the office for copying. If all goes well, tonight, I might prep the grade10 exam.... or I can play CoH and it 50.

Spring cleaning

I am a freak...

I have this odd pleasure in seeing clean windows... More importantly, I get pleasure from being able to see through clean windows. I am truly bizarre...

Two of my students came over today to help me clean the apartment. They are 2 sweethearts for being willing to help clean of the crud that has been clinging to the side of my stove for the past 3 years.

Cleaning of the upstairs is practically done. Time to tackle the garage and backyard... yeesh.

And the Oscar goes to...

So, you have probably heard me btich and complain about this year's drama class and how non-dramatic they are (well, they can be, in the jaded, cynical, unmotivated, forgetful, disorganized sense). Well, there are some jewels, some priceless moments worth mentionning:

Justin : the guy is playing Dog the Bounty Hunter and David Caruso... that, my friend, is called having range!
Amanda: she finally got her lines! And perfectly may I add
Sasha: walk those boots honey!
Danny: for a kid with the attention span of a fruit fly, he can play the role of "student X" with about as much subtlety as a dull knife. And thought my acting was obvious...
Kaylen: love the cop costume!
Rahul: the scrawniest cake-and-ketchup-covered corpse I have ever seen.
Khadisha: 20 minutes later, take 47....of a 30 second scene.

The rest of the class still have to perform their parts, but I'm sure it'll be just as entertaining... Oh, and Miss Maggie rules as the battered teacher. "YER GETTIN' AN F!" ... best line so far!

Gotta eat now... Directing is tiring and builds up an appetite.