Leave me alone stupid love songs

[So Sick, Ne Yo]

What a day. It was a teacher workday but there were parent conferences which meant that I sat in my room while parents stopped in. Ok, I almost never sat- I rearranged my whole classroom. We now have groups of four instead of rows. It took for-ev-ver (say it like the boy on The Sandlot) to get them to all fit and for the most part everyone can see the front of the room with no problems. I worked without pause- literally- from 8:30 to 3:15 then rushed off to get my hair cut and eyebrows waxed (both make me feel SO MUCH better about life). Anyway...

I am making a bunch of changes to my teaching. For example, each day I will have 2-3 EQ's (Essential Questions) for my kids. The teaching will be centered on them, and they'll be based on that day's objective per the North Carolina Sta*ndard Cour*se of Study- the equivalent of Washington's EALR's. This will help my kids be able to grasp exactly what I expect them to know by the end of the period. Ambiguity is a bad thing in teaching. Plus I am going to give short (10-20 question) quizzes every Friday instead of big unit tests because it's just too much stinking information for them to try to remember. I mean, the Renaissance and Reformation (including the Protestant, English, and Catholic Reformations) was all one objective of eight in a time period covering everything from Ghengis Kahn to Colonialism. Yah. And, once again, anyway...

One fan-frieking-tastically cool thing is that the class with the highest percentages of kids meeting their big goal (typically around 90% of the class earning an A or B, and then 90-100% of the class getting an 80% or higher on their final exam, which is tracked by their weekly quizzes) will get a DDR/Karaoke/Dessert party at the end of April. Then I'll do it again at the end of May. Mostly cheap, except for the cost of some cookies and a cake or something. Then, for everyone that gets an A (not easy but not impossible by any means) I am going to have a big party at my [gorgeous] house, so they can play pool, eat some Northwest style barbecue, watch the huge-screen TV (it's beyond big!), swim (it'll be June and I live in the south so it'll be plenty warm), DDR, karaoke, kayak, whatever. I'll invite some parents to be chaperones, but it should be pretty awesome. We'll see how they react Monday... I've been pushing it as a big mystery surprise all week. They were ready to kill me for want of knowing the mystery but I don't crack under pressure :) I am actually inciting my roommates to help me make a video with my camcorder of all the awesome opportunities to have fun here at the house tomorrow, and then I'll burn a DVD to show my kids on Monday.

Speaking of my kids... so when they told me in third period that I need a man, two boys were volunteering to be "my man" for me. I told them I was just fine, thank you very much, but I never take them too seriously. I have, however, wished I could just lie and tell them I have a boyfriend so they'll leave me alone. There were parent conferences Thursday night so I wore make-up and straightened my hair. I can't lie- I looked really cute. But ALL DAY LONG I had to hear about it. "Ms. T*K! I didn't recognize you", "OOOhh, Ms. T*K's trying to get herself a MAA-AAAN", "Ms. T*K, you look so pretty that I just can't concentrate on my work."... and on and on. So most of this was lighthearted and funny.

And then... then there was fourth block. I realized that one of my students is completely in love with me. I always make tons of eye contact as I am teaching, and I noticed that every time I looked at him he blushed and looked away. Then, I had them do a midterm survey- what's working for you, what can I do better, what do you need to improve on, etc- and he basically said I couldn't be more perfect and that he "only hopes [I'm his] U.S. History teacher". Plus he introduced me to his mom as his favorite teacher. So all that with the blushing suddenly clicked and I realized he has a huge crush on me. He's a sweet kid and one of my best students, and totally safe, so he can crush all he wants to.

It's funny though- he's TOTALLY different from the silly boys in my third period class that were like, "Who is that guy? Is he your boyfriend? Because I thought I was your boyfriend!" when my fellow T**F*A friend Peter came in to observe me around a month ago. Only that caught me SO off guard that I was the one blushing and totally flushed as I tried to teach.

Well... this somehow became a novel. And it's after midnight which will totally screw over my sleep schedule- yeah, I actually get up before nine on Saturday's on purpose, to regulate my internal clock so I sleep well. Dang growing up, anyway. Happy April! And no, none of the above was an April Fool's joke. Um, and PS- holy crapoli, I just realized that I am going to tour D.C. and then BOSTON in two and a half weeks! Yesssss! (Do it like Kip after he gets a strike while bowling with Uncle Rico on Napoleon Dynamite...)

That's Petey. I commented that he had mistletoe on his shirt, he insisted I kiss him, I refused, he kissed my cheek, I about died of humiliation. Never been kissed, remember? And don't worry, we're totally just friends. I told some girls in fourth period that I am not looking for a man, but if one finds me I need a man that loves Jesus, not beer. :)