"I want to learn how to speak Mexico"

So, in my alternative certification program, we have to do these classes once every two weeks. Basically, these classes show us different things about lesson planning and tests and blah blah blah. Most of what they teach only work in perfect world scenarios....a lot of the time, you just don't HAVE the time. They mean well, but hey--I don't be doin' half the stuff we learn about. Anyways, these classes are about an HOUR away from my school. Today, I was doin' good till I got to that dam 75 and then I was in traffic for the next 30 mins of the drive. So I'm listenin' to my Robin Thicke and just wishing I was already at the place. I'm driving, CLEARLY minding my own business when WHAM! I struck another car. I was making a left hand turn. Duke had to have seen me cuz my blinker was on and everything. I took the blame (which my stepfather later told me I shouldn't have) and was just real cool about it. Meanwhile, my whip is DONE-ZO for this week which thwarts the ill Halloween plans I had jumping off this friday. I SAY GAT DAM! If it ain't one thing its another. Now my pockets is finna be hurt until next paycheck and my thanksgiving trip to Cleveland is no doubt out the window. However, Thank God no one was hurt because that's the important thing right? DAM ALL THAT, I NEED MY CAR! Hey, I mean--people always say "Thank God you ain't hurt" but you know good and full well in the back of your mind you are pissed cuz of a) the money you got to spend to fix your car and b) the fact you gotta be hitchin' rides for the next week or two. Wompity womp womp!

School

Well, today we are wrapping up Energy. We have been on Energy for about 3 weeks and I am giving them a test this Friday. I gave them way more homework (formative assessments) so the test grades should be a lot better than what they were before. I hope so. Tomorrow, I don't really know what we are going to do--I have a lab planned, but I don't even know what the lab is doing, so I'd have to run around first thing in the morning to see how to set it up. I'll be honest, a lot of them time I just WING IT. I may have a general lesson plan/idea but depending on the class period, what works in 2nd may flop in 7th. So, hopefully I'll get some divine intervention and some awesome super cool lesson will pop into my head early tomorrow morning (which has happened ya know) I put in grades this past weekend and dammit what is with these kids and this homework? AND IT'S THE SAME PEOPLE, all the time. It's like "have I ever gotten homework from you?" Then some kids readily admit to doing one teacher's homework one night and another's the next night and blah blah blah. I'm like...look--homework is extra practice for you guys. Little to they know, test questions will be a compilation of homework problems, or problems very similar to them. Then, there were people who I couldn't believe they did it! I know for one guy who turned it in, I was like "WHAT? You did it!?" So the homework issue is getting better for some....but for others, they clearly do NOT care. I've written in planners and put comments on report cards---in a minute, I'm about to start calling home. Other than that, this Chapter was a lot easier than the section on Chemical Properties and chemical changes. I REEEEALLY hope these benchmarks are better because I used the book more in my lesson planning. Everything the book covered, I covered. There are some additional standards that I need to sprinkle in over the next couple of days.....I'm still working on how I am going to do that. I want to do something on Benjamin Franklin, and Micheal Faraday (invented the electricity generator) and I also what to do some more discussions on the importanance of energy conservation.

Parent Teacher Conference

Today, we had a pt conference with one boy and his mama. first, can I please discuss why the mama showed up wit' this mysterious character....that I wasn't sure if it was the dad or a brother or whatever. So I'm lookin' "him" throughout and the conference and then I'm like "wtf...is that a GIRL!?" So after the mama left, the other teachers of course brought up the mysterious "man" and I was like "yo....that was a girl." So the one teacher goes and asks the boy who was that and he was like "that's my aunt" LOL. Anyway, this kid is really nice but he just talks too much about the other students, and then they talk about him and its just back and forth....blah blah blah. Smart kid--SMART. He gets caught up in the dumb stuff though and that's what's going to hold him back in life. He also is absent 2-3 times a week, and has said on numerous occasions that if he doesn't feel like going to school his mother doesn't make him go. She looked light-weight out of it to--shaking her leg all crack-head like during the conference like she had somewhere to go. She definitely didn't look like she was coming from work either. Anyways, I like the boy and I don't want him to get in trouble any more than he already has.


So this didn't happen in my class, it happened in the social studies class. They were talking about how some countries speak more than one language or whatever and then talking about languages some of the kid's would like to speak. One chick said "I want to learn how to speak Mexico" Viva la educación!