OMG, I have to do this again tomorrow?

Unlike public schools in Michigan, my school (a private, Catholic high school) begins before Labor Day. And not just a little before Labor Day. We teachers went back LAST Wednesday. The students had their first day of school ( a full day, no half-days here) yesterday. We are back and running and I'm totally and utterly exhausted. I kind of hate my class schedule and it will take a lot of getting used to. We have seven classes a day. Teachers usually teach five classes and have two prep periods at some point during the day to do copying, grade, write lesson plans etc. My two preps are first and second periods. Then I teach straight through the rest of the day. No break. On the one hand, it seems to make the day go pretty fast (so far) on the other, it's utterly exhausting not having any breaks. Not even to run to the bathroom. I'll have to limit my liquids I guess.

Ok, so, for as much as I gripe, I do like teaching. I love teaching high schoolers (which tends to amaze people, why I'm not really sure). I particularly like teaching juniors. Freshmen aren't bad (they're usually scared stiff the first few months and after that are still easy to boss around), seniors are at least usually fairly mature, although you have to put up with senioritis, and juniors are typically beginning to realize that high school won't last forever and unless they want to stay working at the Coney Island/McDonalds/golf course/fun park forever, they might want to try and get into college. Juniors also begin to realize that they'll need letters of recommendation from you and so it is a good idea to stay on your good side (at least most of the time). Sophomores suck. They aren't scared freshmen anymore and they're cocky, obnoxious and difficult. I hate teaching sophomores and don't envy my office-mate for having ALL sophomores this year.

I am pretty lucky with the classes I teach. I have all juniors, teach two classes of AP Language and Composition (so, pretty driven kids) and two sections of American Lit (I hate American Lit, but that's neither here nor there) and a section of journalism (mixed, but not bad). As much as I like the juniors, I do notice some pretty big differences in attitude and behavior between the "regular" kids and the AP kids. Today is a perfect example.

All of my classes had to take their summer reading in-class essay. If they did the reading, they will be fine (for the most part). My AP kids moaned a bit about it, but got down to work quickly and I didn't have to bug them to get quiet or stay that way. Even some of the more boisterous kids were good about just doing the essay and keeping focused.

In walked my 5th hour American Lit class. There is one kid, I'll call him O to protect his identity, that I had a feeling would be difficult. Yes, teachers talk about students (sadly, far too much, we need new topics I guess) and I'd heard from my office-mate and Jon that this kid can be tough. I try to withhold judgment on kids until I get to know them, but this time I think they were right. I get everyone sitting in chairs (you'd think this would be obvious, I had one kid that I had to tell more than once to actually get off the desk and sit in the chair). I am giving basic instructions and reminders. O says (under his breath, but I still heard him) "lets get on with this Miss M. I need to check my Farmville." I rolled my eyes and told him to stop talking. I pass out the topics. He keeps talking to the kid sitting next to him. I ask him a second time to be quiet. He keeps talking. Third time, I tell him that if he does it once more, I'm taking points off his essay.

He did.

So, I told him (and the rest of class) that he just lost 5 points on his essay and so would anyone else who talked during the rest of the hour. That shut him up. He thought I was bluffing. Ha. I don't bluff.

I'm sure he thinks I'm a bitch. I'm fine with that. I don't care if he read the books (honestly though, the weren't even novels, they had to read two plays. "Death of a Salesman" and "The Glass Menagerie" Not too difficult). I don't care if he wrote a crappy essay. I don't want him bothering the other kids though. Aargh. Good start to the year, eh?

I also had another student in my 6th hour American Lit class come up to me and point blank told me "I didn't bother to read the two books this summer, I probably didn't do so well on the essay." I guess, thanks for being honest, but I told her that that is a bad start to the year (and her grade) and she needs to get with it and quickly. I think I need to talk to her parents before this gets out of control.

Wait. Did I say I like teaching? Remind me why? :) I'm glad we have a short week, I don't think I'd make it through a full week right now. One of my own teachers likened going back to teaching in the fall as being similar to getting back into a sport you haven't trained for in a long time. I think that's a pretty apt description.

How long until Thanksgiving?

It's that time again

Yes, it's that time again. Time for my annual back to school tattoo. What started as a sort of rebellion at the idea of teaching at yet another Catholic school when I was beginning to really settle into who I am as a person (and who I am is not really the stereotypical "good Catholic girl") has now become a tradition. Sure, there's still a little sense of that "fuck you" each time I get a new one, but I also just like getting tattoos. I like all of mine and have put a lot of thought into each one. So, as I typically do, roughly six months or so ago I started thinking about what my next one would be. I toyed with the idea of Tudor roses since I'm a huge nerd about the Tudors (and this nerdery happened LONG before the Showtime show came on, though I do like the show). Unfortunately, the place where I wanted to put the tattoo wasn't really ideal for that sort of design. I knew I wanted it to go on my left ribs and I knew I wanted the design to have a little of the same feel (though not necessarily to match) what I got on my right ribs last year. So, what to do?

I still liked the whole historical tie in and then I had a brainstorm. Besides being weirdly obsessed with Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Mary I and so forth, I am a pretty big Shakespeare nerd. When I went to school for my PhD, the plan was to do my dissertation on Shakespeare. I adore going up to Stratford, Ontario to the Shakespeare Festival. I've taken classes on teaching Shakespeare as literature by using acting and drama in the classroom. I have taught Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing numerous times to high school students. I find the notion that Shakespeare didn't exist preposterous. I desperately wish I could teach Shakespeare again where I'm working now but, sadly, another teacher has a death-grip on Shakespeare and, until she leaves, Shakespeare is her baby (it doesn't help that I teach American Lit for two of my classes, that i get, but still.) Yeah...I'm a nerd and proud of it.

So, with more thinking, I came up with a great idea. I've always loved Paul Steck's painting of Ophelia (from Hamlet, in case you didn't know) and it had that great literary tie-in. On top of that, it was the right shape and had the right feel to kind of complement but not match my other rib tattoo. Well, yesterday was the bit day. It's still red and sore (and a bit gunky) but you get the idea. I think Mike (the guy I always go to) did a fantastic job. I'm very excited about it :) It took three hours to do which didn't include the time he took to create the stencil and get set up. Three straight hours of tattooing. Just as I was getting to the point of wussing out and saying I couldn't stand it any more, he was done :) As if the tattooing didn't hurt enough, laying on one side for three hours without moving makes your hips feel like shit and having to keep both arms over your head makes them feel like they weigh 10 tons and become kinda numb. Now, if the feeling of being punched in the side would go away, I'll be fine :) So, another school year begins (actually, it already began, we started on Wednesday, though the kids come back this Wednesday) and I start it the same way I have for the last four years. With a brand new, back to school tattoo :)