Family Madness

We're a mere 8 hours into March Madness and I am already in last place in the family and friends bracket pool.  That's okay though, it's still all kinds of fun. 

We started the pool about four years ago and even though there's often talk of paying money to the winner I don't think anyone has ever collected the full amount due to them.  This year we didn't even bother to mention money.  Really, we're all about the trash talk.

So far this year my mother has let us all know that she is "in to kick butt."  My brother is wondering why he didn't watch the news before he chose Syracuse to win and tonight, thanks to a win by VCU, my niece is doing a little celebratory dance over her perfect bracket. 

And away we go...

Collision Course

One of my first visits to the ER came at the early age of 5 after my short career as an imaginary pilot.  My aeronautical career started early one morning after my mother had dashed out to drive my older brothers to school.  My dad was upstairs watching the baby, a sister I had pretty much chosen to ignore at the point. I'm sure my mom told me to do something while she was gone but since I couldn't recall what it was I searched for my own fun.

I wandered down the back stairs to the cold, dark basement.  A pull of a string illuminated a single bulb in the front of the room.  There wasn't much in the space, just a whole bunch of cement---gray cement floors that spilled out to gray cinderblock walls.  An old, wooden table, my airplane, was waiting for me in the center of the room.  A few rickety chairs were spread about; with a little maneuvering and my own strength I placed one of the chairs on top of the table.  Using another chair as my ladder I climbed aboard and into my unsteady cockpit.

The accident occurred somewhere after take-off, most likely as I was leaning back in the seat from the force of the plane's ascension.  All I really know is that I was up (on the table), and then I was down (on the floor).

It never feels good to tumble onto a cement floor.  It fells even worse when the fall comes from three feet in the air with nothing but an arm bone to break the fall.

Visitors From Above

One of the highlights of my day came in the form of a visitor from the county level.  I usually get a drop-in visit from the department head at least once a year.  That's never really bothered me, mostly because I'd known the former department head for years.  I had worked with her at another school and even babysat her children on occasion.  Seeing Mary walk in the door was never intimidating, it was like running into an old friend. 

A lot has changed in the county over the past year.  Many of those familiar higher-ups, like Mary, have retired.  I know a few of the new people but in this time of transition it seems that many of the jobs that had been held so long by the same people are now being held by individuals on a temporary basis.  A few teachers have come out of retirement to help out in the interim.

Such was the case today when I met a former 9th grade English teacher who was there to observe me.  She showed up at the beginning of 1st period, allowing us a few minutes to chat.  From the get-go this retired teacher was nothing but positive.  She remarked how wonderful it was that I had spent 10 years in elementary school-how knowing where these 6th graders had come from and what they had learned could only help them as they transitioned to middle school. 

Yes, I've thought that for years and although I had a lot to learn when I arrived in middle school I knew I had a great deal to offer as well.  It was nice to hear it from someone else.

My observer sat and watched the flow of the lesson.  She nodded and smiled as the students responded to my questions and offered questions and opinions of their own.  First period can be a quiet group but today they did not disappoint, they were engaged and interested.  By the time class ended I didn't need someone else to tell me how effective the lesson was, I could see that for myself.  However, it was nice to start the day off with a compliment from a stranger.

Cleaning Out the Funk

With a little extra daylight to look forward to I climbed on my bike at about 4:00 this afternoon and headed to Old Town Alexandria for a spur of the moment ride.  After a week-long funk over the health of a close friend I was ready to shake off a bit of sadness with a change of scenery and some fresh air. 

I rolled the bike right out the front door, pushed off and was on my way.  It's been about 5 or 6 weeks since I've used the biking muscles but thankfully my legs weren't too rusty.  In no time at all I was riding parallel to the Potomac River watching the planes make their slow ascent above my head. 

I usually like to stop and take pictures along the way but today the ride was so enjoyable I skipped the usual photo stops and kept on pedaling. 

Yes, Daylight Saving Time is pretty controversial but tonight I was happy to have a little more daylight to ride by.

Weekend Wrap-up

A short while ago I graded the last of the stack of papers I brought home with me on Friday.  Fortunately the grade book used by the county is on-line so all grades are entered as well.  I packed up my bag tonight feeling a sense of accomplishment; again leaving a stack of papers on my desk was a good call.

Yesterday's phone issue has also been resolved.  Resolution came as mysteriously as the problem had only 12 hours before.  When I awoke this morning the phone was working again.  It is with great relief that I report that as far as I know there was no strange intruder from a 70s or 80s slasher movie in my house.  That's a good thing.  However, I have to say, I would have never watched The Exorcist on Friday night if I knew the phone was going to be acting strangely on Saturday. 

Quiet

It's been a quiet Saturday afternoon, unusually quiet.  Somewhere around 7:00 tonight I figured out the reason for all that silence; my house phone is broken.  Those who call are taken directly to my busy greeting.  I might have never discovered the problem if I didn't happen to pick up my cordless handset and see a message indicating the line was in use.

The message creeped me out.  I live alone so if the line was truly in use that meant someone was upstairs using it.  Fortunately I've been home all day and was reasonably sure that there was no one else in the house. Thinking the cat had been upstairs knocking things around I climbed the stairs to check it out.  Yup, the phone was there, securely set in the charge station, with a message that stated line was in use.

Further investigation proved the quiet would continue...until Wednesday when the first technician appointment is available.

Friday

Friday afternoons are often productive ones for me in my classroom.  The afternoon is usually meeting free and since most of my teammates clear out quickly I find myself alone in our little pod of classrooms.  The lack of distractions and quiet is just what I need to clean up my desk and get ready for the coming week.

I stayed at work until about 5:00 today.  Goal number one was making sure all of my copies were ready for Monday's classes.  I then spent about 30 minutes clearing the books and papers that had been cluttering my workspace.  A little bit of planning was next on the agenda.  I'm starting a new unit next week, one I haven't taught before, so I spent some time thinking about how my ideas would align with the standards I wanted to cover.

I filed a few papers and in the process ended up cleaning up the team room as well.  Discarded coats, gloves and sweaters were placed in the school's lost and found and old papers that had taken up residence in the nooks of the area were recycled.

Finally, I gathered up the papers that I needed to grade. The stack was rather intimidating so I decided to be realistic and leave half of them on my desk.  I shut the door and walked out with my bag slung over my left shoulder, ready to face the weekend and Monday morning.