An Almost Snow Day

Is that even possible? Well, we had cold temperatures. (Here in SC, it's been rather warm. So, our 33 degrees feels really cold to me. I am a baby now--I don't remember what it's like in Wisconsin!) And they (ambiguous pronoun, I know--the weather people) had been calling for an ice/sleet/snow mix for today. Phooey. We got enough ice to make it miserable--but not enough to cancel school--not even enough to go late. Enough to slip around on as you try to crack the coating off of your car--enough to make you slip as you walk across campus--and enough to cause the caring/overly-cautious public safety boys on campus to dump sandbox after sandbox all over campus. But not enough to cancel school.

As I read over that paragraph, I realize that it may sound like I don't like school. That's FAR from the truth: I do love school. But I had some cranky kids in classes today--they feel they've been cheated in some way. I thought my lecture on plagiarism and quoting/paraphrasing/summarizing was inspiring--and I can't begin to describe the joy my Nathaniel Hawthorne lecture brings to my own life. But it didn't seem like enough for some of them. Pooh.

We've been in classes for a week and one day now. But I got a call from one distressed student who proclaimed, after I greeted him on the phone about an hour after class, "I think I'm late for class! Isn't it Wednesday?!?" I calmly replied, "No, it's Thursday. And class is over." He said, "Are you sure? Where's our class?" I answered--with the patience I'm known for all over the world--"I am ABSOLUTELY sure. I'm looking at a calendar right now. AND your classmates are probably at lunch or in other classes since I dismissed them at 1:30--when our class is over." He said, "What should I do?" My response, of course--"Go home." Hee Hee.

Another student came running in the door of my office--all out of breath--saying, "I overslept!!!" (Those three exclamation points are absolutely essential.) I just looked at her--our class had been out for, oh, 2 hours or so by now. What in the world? She asks (still out of breath), "Did you mark me absent?" Hmm . . . how do I answer that question?

Wherever you are, I hope you're warm--and dry. (This freezing rain is really quite miserable.)

But remember: I DO love school. (But a snow day--once in a great while--is quite a treat!)

A New Semester

Wow. I shouldn't talk about how fast time flies because that's a sign of age, right? But Christmas break just disappeared. Truly. And we've just finished our first three days of the new semester. Amazing!

How sad that I can't post more than once a month--even while on vacation. I don't think I'm cut out for blogging/to blog/the blogger world. (I'm still trying to find all of the various ways to use the word BLOG.) It's pressure! :-) I am so grateful, though, to see my former students--and so many of them have beautiful, precious children now. Wow--have you seen Alicia and Matt's incredible daughter? Or Karen and Nathan's little jewel? And Carissa and Brent's extraordinary little clan? (I shouldn't start listiing--I'll inevitably leave out someone/many.) Participating in the world of blogs (ha) is definitely worth it if I get to communicate with/see them.

Back to North Greenville--I would say that 88% of the students I've asked have told me that they're not ready to be back. I consider that quite positive. (It's a B on our ten-point scale!) And the other 12%? Nope, they're still on vacation. The seniors, of course, are happy to be back: they know they're on the last leg of a really long race. But the freshmen--they look cranky. And I practically have to pry their cell phones out of their little hands--they LOVE texting. (And they are really, really good at sending messages during class.) I'm so old I can remember passing notes--now that's old!

Enough. I'm rambling; I think I will write up an outline before I attempt to blog again. (And THEN, I'll make sense.)

CELL PHONES!

Okay. I guess I'm old. Not the best way to start my 2nd blog entry, but I guess it's true. Now, I am fond of cell phones: they definitely have their uses. In fact, I use mine all the time. I'm very thankful for it. HOWEVER, what's with people using them EVERYWHERE? Today, I was at the mall Christmas shopping. And one of my pet peeves (and my students already know this) is women (and men--I guess--I've just not been in the men's room--ever) who talk on their cell phones IN THE BATHROOM. What's up with that? And it's not that they're talking while they're washing their hands or fixing their hair or putting on makeup. No. They're talking WHILE THEY ARE IN THE STALLS. And they're not talking about some emergency situation. They aren't even calling about running out of toilet paper. They're talking about the stupidest things. They can't wait until they're finished? I am more than annoyed by this behavior. I don't know the word for it right now--but annoyed is too calm. So, obviously, today, I observed this behavior. And I ran from stall to stall (the unoccupied ones, of course) and flushed every toilet I could--just to be annoying as well.

But that's not all! I was in a store looking at slippers for Mom, and here comes this lady--on her cell phone. (And, of course, these conversations are for everyone to hear.) So, she says, "I didn't call you last night because I didn't know how to tell you, but have you heard about Grandma?" Time passes. The lady says, "Well, she's not doing too well. In fact, she died last night. Oh, wait, I have another call." AND SHE PUTS THE PERSON ON HOLD TO TAKE A DIFFERENT CALL--from someone who wanted to know what's for dinner. Am I wrong to be astonished at this behavior? I had to leave that department. I was so angry.

THEN, I went to the children's section--looking for Curious George clothing for my niece (who is wild about him!). There's this girl--oh, at least mid-20's I'd say--talking on her cell phone. She says, "Did you make out with him AGAIN? I can't believe you!" Giggle, giggle, giggle. She continues (after a moment), "You swore you'd never do that again! Was his mom around, too?" Ack. Ack. I had to run away. Well, actually, I got on MY cell phone and called my mom--and told her how disgusted I was with everyone around me, everyone in SC, everyone period.

I am probably overreacting. But I don't care. It's genuinely how I felt today. Now that I'm home and can't hear anyone else's cell phone conversations, I feel fine. (Plus, Elf is on again. I can't tell you how much this movie makes me laugh. "Smiling's my favorite." I love Buddy the Elf.)

I hope you all are well--and enjoying your cell phone conversations--and everyone else's around you. :-)

Graduation/Christmas Break!

Here I am, new to blogging. (Actually, new to the idea of using blog as a verb, to be frank) I thought I would give it a try--now that we've had graduation: papers are evaluated; scores are calculated; grades are submitted. It's time for a change. So, I'll give this blog idea a try. (Look--blog as an adjective) Many, many of my students record most (if not all) of their feelings on the Internet in their blogs (now as a noun); in fact, some of them direct me to their blogs (even when they've used their blog as a place to vent their frustration with school--or even with my class specifically). It seems incredibly odd to me.

Well, let's leave it at that. I'll try again later. We'll see if I keep it up.