The week from...

     HADES!  This was probably one of the worst weeks for me, and it wasn't much better for Andy.  If anything could stress me out, make me irritated, or just go bad, it happened this week.  Hopefully next week will be much better.
     Monday - My students reviewed for their test by playing Bingo, or as we like to call in Algebra - Mango (get it... Math Bingo... Mango... haha...).  I have been doing the test review for this chapter with the bingo game for several years now, and I have never had a problem.  Not this year!  My students would not SHUT UP and just play.  They gripe because we don't do anything "fun," and then I give them a chance to have fun and win prizes but they just want to talk and talk and talk.  Maybe that's why their grades are low.
     Also, on Monday my AP Calculus students took their first test.  Boy did they suck it up.  I had 5 out of the 15 kids pass.  GRRR!  It made me so angry.  I warned them not to be over-confident for this test because the review seemed fairly easy.  Yeah, they didn't believe me.
     Tuesday - My Algebra kids did horribly on their tests.  So, at this point I feel like a failure as a teacher.  That somehow it had to be my fault that my students did so poorly on their tests.  And then I remembered, my students don't study.  They say they can't study for math.  That's a bunch of crap.  It's called re-working the problems over and over again until you truly understand the process and understand where your mistakes were.  No, you can't just hold a piece of paper and "memorize" the information.  You actually physically have to work the problems out.
     Wednesday - I have a migraine.  Not just a small migraine.  This was the full blown migraine.  And of course, I had a meeting after school.  I was really surprised that I even made it through my 7th period class.  I thought I was surely going to throw up all over the floor if I didn't get to a dark room, curl up in the fetal position, and nap... soon.  Thankfully, no throw up.  I did take an hour nap when I got home, and thankfully Maddie behaved in the house while I napped.  I think she could sense I wasn't feeling well. 
     Thursday - I wake up with the remnants of my migraine, so I take some Advil in hopes to prevent another one.  Good news - no migraine on Thursday.  However, it was an okay day until Andy gets home.  He went to the golf course, and my vehicle (which is barely a year old) was hit by a golf ball.  I would have been more understanding had my vehicle actually been parked in the parking lot, but it wasn't.  Andy was driving to the golf course on a public road next to the golf course when it was hit.  Some freakin' high school kid shanks his ball off the tee box, and it hits my car about a 100 yards away driving down the road.  I have no nice way to say it... I am pissed!  Andy gets this kid's parents' phone number, and of course they are being difficult about the situation.  They haven't given us their insurance information, so I am afraid we may have to take them to civil court to get them to pay for the damages.  I am not paying the $787 it's going to cost to fix my car.  And, I get it, people have dents in their cars and are perfectly fine, but I am NOT that person.  I want my car to look nice and not have a dent from a freakin' golf ball!!!

Stupid dent!

     Friday - I do an "activity" with my Algebra students.  Activities are what the "education experts" think we need to do with our students.  Yet, when they take their standardized tests, they will take it on a plain piece of paper with a scantron and will not have manipulatives to use.  But whatever... I won't start on my opinion of education experts who have never taught in a high school classroom with unmotivated students.  Anyway, the activity went well for the most part, but all it took was one class to "not get it" and refuse to work on it.  This particular activity required less instruction from me and more exploration and thinking on the students' part.  Ha!  Remember that unmotivated student I just mentioned... Yeah, you try getting them to "think" on their own.  Overall not a horrible Friday, but not a good one either.
     I apologize for those of you that just read through this... I hope the next entry will be more upbeat than this one.  I do feel slightly better now that I've written it all out, so thanks for listening... err... reading!

Pet Park

     Last weekend Andy and I visited a pet park.  This was Maddie's first experience at a pet park, and she did awesome!  We were a little hesitant to let her off her leash, but she immediately warmed up to the other dogs.  She has never bitten anyone nor even tried, and she is usually really friendly around other people and their pets.  When we're camping she will bark at every dog that walks by, but only because she wants to play with them.  Maybe one day we will be in a neighborhood that has a pet park, but until then, she'll have to be content running through the pasture!

She had a blast!!

     Our lives become rather boring when school starts especially since Andy is a coach.  I have been very proud of myself for doing very limited school work at home.  Last year and all of my previous years, I would work 2+ hours on school work when I got home on top of cooking dinner, doing laundry, keeping the house clean, and trying to spend time with Andy.  So far, I haven't done much (if anything) during the week, and I have only graded papers on the weekends.  Hopefully I can make this last because I am enjoying it!
     Andy's classes are going okay.  His transition into the Social Studies department has been kinda rough.  The department head just assumes he knows about all of the activities that they do within the department for their classes.  Well, this is Andy's first year teaching a social studies class and needs a little more guidance than what she's been giving.  His health classes are going smoothly except for his 7th period class which has a few problem children in it and of course they feed off of each other's bad behavior.  Due to him teaching a section of world history, his health classes are rather large which is tough to manage especially when the kids have behavior issues.  Keep praying for him though; he's trying very hard to keep a positive attitude!

Crazy Busy Life

     The new school year is well under way, and with it comes a crazy busy life and stress.  My students have been okay so far.  I've had better and more well-behaved classes than this, but I have also witnessed worse.  Andy has a few problem children, and of course, they're all in the same class period.  You would think the counselors would take things like that into consideration and not put all the "bad kids" in the same class.  Instead, they seem to all end up together.  Andy and I are patient teachers, but Andy was ready to call a parent on the third day of school for one of his students.  That's not a good start to the year!  I hope for his sake (and mine) that this child decides to grow up and act like a high school student... very soon.
     In the last post, I was bragging about our cross country team, and our #1 runner.  Yeah... well... she has a stress fracture in her femur and will be out the entire season.  Andy is already having problems in athletics (due to all of this support for football but no other boys sports), and then this happens.  It breaks my heart, and I know it ruined his outlook on the season.  You could tell today at the cross country meet that his girls team took a big hit.  They all relied on our best runner to lead them, and it's just a tough and emotional situation.  I really hurt for Andy though because I know he loves this teams and he loves coaching, but it seems that everything is just crashing down for him this school year.  (Side note:  Please keep him in your prayers because it's been a very rough year so far and we've only been in school for two weeks.)
     I, on the other hand, have had an okay start to the school year.  Nothing great and nothing completely horrible.  I am not getting a good vibe for this year, but I am keeping a positive attitude and maybe things will start looking better.  It's tough being married to a fellow teacher at the same school.  Andy and I find ourselves being irritated all the time because of his stress or my stress.  At least if we were at different schools, we wouldn't personally know or work with the people we were complaining about.  But... at the same time, it's nice to be able to walk to the next hallway to see each other.
     Monday we have "Meet the Teacher" for our campus.  Our principal always tells us to not allow the conversations to turn into a parent/teacher conference, but how can you not?  All the parents care about are the students' grades, and that's what they ask you about.  I typically get the "I'm terrible at math and so is my kid" speech from the parents.  Barf in my mouth!  You're only terrible at math because you refuse to learn it.  You're only terrible at math because you choose to be terrible with your negative attitude.  And whether you like it or not, this world wouldn't work without math!  So, you might as well deal with it and change your attitude.  I cannot stand it when I tell people that I teach math, and the first thing out of their mouth is "I hate math" or "I can't do math."  Get over it.  When someone tells me about their profession, the first thing I say isn't "oh, I hate that."  Ok, ok... I'm off my soap box.  I could keep going, but I better stop.  :)
     I have no pictures for this post.  Bummer!  Unfortunately, our lives are consumed with our jobs at this point.  I promised myself that I would keep up with this blog even during school.  So hopefully I will continue to find the time to post because it is rather fun!