End of Long Weekend

Four days; Thursday- Sunday, for Thanksgiving.
Did not do much, rather we did not do anything "Thanksgiving." Chicken and stuffing (Swiss chicken) and I spent the day working on work (grades).

It is just not the same anymore.

I remember Grandma and Grandpa coming up from Louisiana for a couple of weeks, Mom and Grandma cooking in the kitchen for a couple of days, and sitting at the dining room table (Bloomingdale).
Going to Dunkin' Donuts with Grandpa.
Going home for lunch- mini-pizza.
A day shopping for clothes, maybe a coat.

But that is a long time ago.
People move, relationships change, and we get older.
As an adult (without children) it can become just another day.

It could be my 'holiday blues,' which seemed to hit early this year; a couple of weeks ago, I began to feel it.
Perhaps the stress of other things brought it on, with feeling that there not very much to look forward to and too much expectation.

Interesting holiday blues.... (symptoms)
Nothing to do on Thanksgiving (memories past)
Dad's birthday (reflection on own age).
Hanukkah (desire for tradition).
Christmas at Mom's this year (always a headache wherever it is; never as it should be).
Birthday (reflection; age issues; desire for change).
New Year (reflection; desire for change).

Interesting dream the other night; I guess I was somewhat vocal during my sleep, calling out David's name.
It starts in a small bedroom with a cot and mattress. David is there and I ask him why he is there. He tells me that he is sleeping there because I keep him up.
It is a Goodwill/ Salvation Army place. I see a woman dropping off a pair of shoes- blue straps, looks new. She is talking to someone, saying why she is dropping off new shoes- I do not remember the reason.
So I leave, night, in the car. Pyewacket (old cat) is sitting in the passenger seat. I think he was talking/ communicating with me. The car is flipped (European), so my seat is on the right.
It begins to snow or rain- either way I can not see. Then still images, b&w, pop up on the windshield- nothing specific, cropped images. Then a bright white light.... maybe a crash.
And I wake up.

So what does it mean?
1. Argument: conflict/ unsettled business in waking like. Could reflect how I feel that I do not get enough sleep or it could be that I believe David sleeps at the wrong time.

2. Shoes: represents approach to life. New shoes leans to being overconfident- I think this has to do with work. The color blue means a lot of things, in this dream it could mean loyalty (to David or to my job), or wisdom, optimism, or a clear mind. On the other hand, blue can be a metaphor for 'being blue'/ sad (as is life- could reflect my feeling of the holiday).

3. Driving: path in life. The fact that I can not see the road ahead symbolizes that there is the unknown in my life/ lacking direction. I can not find 'opposite,' but I would assume it represents something that is not the way it should be. Night means setbacks/ issues- I've got plenty of those. Black and white could be that I need to be more objective or find a balance in life or depression. 'Finding a balance' is interesting- I've been having balance issues (time management) for a month or so- since I had the cold (with another on the way). A bright light is a need to move to a 'higher awareness,' common in those near death- interesting. A car crash symbolizes a belief/ lifestyle clash with another person (David or Kathy- dept. chair) or painful experience or a forewarning of an accident due to careless driving (I am always afraid of hitting a deer on my way to work).

4. Pyewacket (pet), could be instinct or temper- a lot lately; (cat/ black cat) independence, power, misfortune, someone is being deceitful towards me / fear; (talking animal) primitive wisdom- which is interesting, because I did feel a sense of calm.

Otherwise,
Three days spent on work and not much else- It felt good to finish it all up. Grades first (posted for mid-quarter) and I finished three weeks of lessons (up to winter break) with all of the handouts and set the second quarter exam and an objective guide for the semester exam. It is going to be busy, if not nuts. And then there is only the week after winter break for the semester exam- it should be two, as the first week back is never a very productive week.
Went to the gym on Thanksgiving morning, but nothing after. December first tomorrow; I need to get it into gear.

My list of things to do has dwindled, but is still a bit long.
Need to clean the house (too busy last weekend); finish laundry; ironing; and get prepared for the week.

Heavy snow expected today through tonight; Rockford may get 8 inches, 6 in Freeport, and a freeze overnight. Could be an interesting day tomorrow. Snow day? It would really screw up my lessons, there are no 'extra' days in these sets of plans. It it packed, packed, packed. I will keep my phone on just in case of a call.
Right now, just a meager snow- flakes blowing around. It is supposed to get heavy early evening and overnight.
Could be a pretty sight in the morning.

I wanted to get holiday shopping done. It is a short season this year- three weeks. I will have to do during the week I guess. It needs to be finished by next weekend.

Things to do. Things to do.

November Chill

Cold and more cold.
Had the first flakes of snow, but it did not last; first icicle.
The chill remains.

School OK.
Ups and downs. I am still trying to get some sort of balance- students who study and those who do not; humor and discipline. It can be very trying.
I am backtracking and reassessing how I teach the material. I think I may assume too much (that all students study and do the assignments) and may not review material enough. I usually only do direct methods when I introduce the material, but this may not be enough for some. And then there is my 'banter' between humor and anger. There is a big swing. Perhaps I just need to teach and not worry about personality. I believe my jokes create a more relaxed atmosphere, but perhaps, students feel picked on (probably not) and one parent complained (student got caught talking during quiz; mother, who works at the HS, mentioned things I said, in humor, to student. It is deflection.).
The latter has created a mood.
I submitted my quarterly reflection. When asked, Mikkelsen said she did not read it. I have not heard anything from Swords.
Costa Rica plans almost decided. The Department is leaning for a cheaper trip-so it will be EF or Explorica.

No planning this weekend- did two weeks last weekend. Still had a bit of grading though. Not bad. Next weekend (Thanksgiving 4-day weekend), I will be busy planning through Winter Break, mid-quarter grades, and working on my proposal for Costa Rica.

Do I really want to stay another year?
Hmmmm.

FLIC bowling activity today at 2pm.
It is just past noon and I have no desire to get moving.
Tomorrow, going to Chicago for Adam's birthday.
Another thing I am not thrilled about.

Still no gym.
Dragging, definitely.

I need a quiet, uneventful weekend.
I'll take it for the week, if I can.

Breadth of Autumn

Warm 70s earlier this week, now 40s, and a hint of snow yesterday. I wish I could use the fireplace (back draft issue), as that is what the weather calls for. Most of the trees already bare, only the yellows remain; the red-violets, crimsons, dusty oranges- all blown away. Still, I enjoy this weather.
I thought I would get another mow in, but I guess not. Perhaps next weekend. As for the garden clean-up, a wash (of course).

Short week due to student-lead conferences. A handful of scheduled conferences, with a number of students (w/parents) stopping by. Overall, they went well. Summary, some with concerns, sent to Ries and Swords. I may have a couple more next week- although, I really do not want to do them. To me, I stayed late on Thursday and Friday to accommodate schedules.
With the short week, I decided on a week of review- Q1 material (packets). I know this will put us behind a bit, but I need to bring, or try to bring, all students up to a basic level of understanding before we hit the verb conjugations. I reminded students that review helps everyone, still, those that need it are continuing to slack-off, whereas those that really do not need it find it easy.

Students also had time to plan for the Dia de los muertos fiesta- Monday, 10th. I am nervous about this one. Frankly, only two, maybe three, classes deserve the fiesta. The other ones, due to select behvavior issues, I may be making a mistake.
This year, I was very specific with the committees' objectives: food committee has to make el pan de muerto; decoration committee has to make an altar and papel picado; history committee has to focus on the calaveras.
Maybe too much, too focused.
Of course, I had students who were late with the permission slip (mainly for food allergies)- a threat of a five-page paper had a few scattering, with a couple of parents dropping off slips.

Honestly, due dates seem to not affect some of my students. I need to cut it.

Otherwise,
nearly all of my school work finished yesterday, so I am happy not to bring home a stack of stuff. I have things to do though- Q1 reflection and getting the Costa Rica (2010) trip moving.

I've not been to the gym since I was sick. I need to get that back on track. Feeling a bit fat- and my mood is a bit wain.

And I have enough to do on my personal list- one replaces another- to keep me busy. None of which, of course, I feel like doing.

Lantern Festival (Freeport) later today. FLIC voted to go- but if the weather turns, I said "weather permitting," I will not want to go (but I will). FLIC also doing a bowling event (social and fundraiser) on the 22nd. We'll see how that goes.

Nothing much else.
Need to get moving.

Second Quarter

Well, the end of the first quarter did not turn out too bad- not great though. Of course, my 8th graders outpaced my HS class my nearly 30% (class average), but some of my HS students did show a bit of improvement and did raise his/her grade in the end (although, still failing).

Students who earned a C or better were allowed to select his/her seat for the quarter (first part at least). I have certificates for students who earned a B or higher- I will figure out some sort of actual reward. One JHS class with A average- supposed to be a movie, but new district rules state that it movies have to be pre-approved by committee. It is a lot of paperwork, so I will think of something else. Two with a B average- music fiesta. My HS class at a dismal F.

My meeting with HS administrators to discuss my HS class went as it went. Mainly a socio-political speech about offering opportunities to all students. They did not seem to care about current grades or the fact that a few students do absolutely nothing in class. But, I do have more authority now to send students out for non-compliance, insubordination, disrespect, etc. In my opinion, they want to take the data that belongs in academics and move it to the behavior column. In this way, the district can present to the community that this particular group did take Spanish. With the behavior, the African-American male student is so overly represented, so a handful more will not make such a difference (my students have a number of referrals and suspensions already, mine are not going to sway the numbers much).

I interviewed for the Assistant Drama coach position. I am not expecting to get it, I don't know if I want it- long hours, especially through the production season. I guess a few people interviewed. I think my interview outcome was mixed- I could not really read the director.

FLIC is going OK, although still a bit unorganized.
We are planning to go to the Lantern Festival (local thing) and organizing a bowling event.

Another weekend of grading. I need to figure out a better system. I do what I can at school- late days; 12 hour days- but it is not enough. All day yesterday, finishing after 15 hours. At least it is done.

Next week is a short one due to parent conferences. After the test results and the student reflections, I decided that I am going to do review ("recycle") lessons.

The week after that, Monday is our Dia de los muertos fiesta- why do I do fiestas? And then Tuesday off (Veterans Day), and a recycle test on Wednesday. I want to get back to the lesson by Thursday- probably have to start over and reteach (we only got to the vocabulary anyway).

I started to get a generic unit plan together- something I can follow each lesson. The textbook plans give 10 days per lesson, but I need more than that. I do not think I will get though two units (four lessons) by Winter Break, but maybe. I will have to push and push.

Now, I just have to tackle the rest of the things on my TTD list:
Work- plans, handouts, newsletter, my quarter reflection.
Inside- laundry, clean house, aquarium.
Outside- lawn, garden stuff, wood pile.
Other- schedule(s), calls.

It never ends.