"Hard To Be A Saint In The City"

So yesterday? Total shit. Complete wash. Worthless. Craptastic.

Today? Reminded me why I love teaching.

Irony? Same class was responsible for both sentiments.

See, I had a chat with the first period class this morning. I brought the Dean of Students in on it. We heard the students' concerns, I told 'em where we as their teachers were coming from, and I think we convinced all but maybe one student (who has a whole host of issues, starting with the need for a severe beating) to give our student-teacher a chance and to try to see it from her side. We've worked out a plan of action, we're dedicated to it, and I think I've got most of them solidly on my side at this point. And then they paid attention to the lesson I taught them. It was bizarre.

I also ended up teaching all the history classes today because Ms. Yasai is out every Wednesday for a class and Ms. Mandzak was also out for some reason today. Most of the classes did really well, though, and I hardly had any discipline/behavior issues. I chatted briefly with my boss, and we're probably going to see about getting some sort of permanent sub for Wednesdays, since Ms. Yasai will always be out that day. Should be beneficial.

Also got to jump into the art class this afternoon, which was a lot of fun. Any class that's combining medieval/Arthurian characters with comic strips (the idea is that they're going to construct a comic strip featuring a scene from Arthurian lore or something similar) is okay by me.

Anyway, away to bed with me. Duty calls, as per usual.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Billy Bragg, "A New England"