Janae Says...

This fabulous thing called PMS really does make me wonder what I'm genuinely stressed about. It amplifies everything, and so I don't know if I'm actually really depressed, or if I'd normally shrug these things off more easily. In any case, today has been rough. I'm still sick, and I'm tired of being sick. I read through my students' evaluations of my teaching. And most of them think I need to be nicer and be fair to everyone. They also think I am boring and don't make learning interesting. That's not to discount the portion of students who really enjoy me, my teaching, and my class. But I suppose it's a talent of mine to focus on the negative. I have a hard time connecting with people on my needed level. It's important for me to feel understood and heard and appreciated. And it's hard for me to feel that. So while I may have friends, I still spend most of my time feeling extremely alone and disconnected. I really miss home. I miss Califor...

A mustache should always be considered.

My students had a sub on Monday because I was sick. I should have stayed home on Tuesday, too. Because on Monday night I was feeling better, and I went to work on Tuesday, then got sicker. I currently have no voice--it's a squeaky tragedy right now. Thanks, sickness. I got back on Tuesday, though, and my students were suddenly very happy that I was there. They despised the sub, saying she was weird, random, arrogant, senseless, and annoying. Apparently the sub disregarded the comparison paragraph I left for my students, saying mine was "too confusing," and decided to discuss New Moon instead. She was really smart. She even told my students she was a certified English teacher. A certified English teacher who can't follow directions, wants to discuss New Moon, and who doesn't know how to write a comparison essay? My hopes are dwindling. But I did have many students tell me they were glad to have me back. They also were very concerned about my cough and wanted me to...

I'm engaged!!! Just kidding. Seriously though, what if I was? Passed cleaning checks the first time. I bought a terabyte sized external hard drive for one hundred rupees. I mean dollars. For the first time in a month, I don't have to go into work on a Saturday. My roommate bought me a pizza because she knows Fridays are crazy for me and wanted me to have dinner. How cute is she?! My apartment is clean. AND decorated. Thanks roommates. My kids loved Night. I have plans on a Saturday night, for once! My resume looks amazing! I have an interview with a school district in Salt Lake on December 4. I get to go home in four days Orem has an In-N-Out. I love my job. Almost every day, even! We have an Enrichment activity coming up that will be so fun. I love life.

First, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind . I love that. "I took a train out to Montauk today. I'm not sure why. I'm not an impulsive person..." I love that Clementine hates the word "nice" as much as I do. It's the most useless adjective I know. It's my favorite anti-romance. Second, my classroom. And how ugly my face looks in the initial clip of this video. Very cute. Duh. Third, Imogen Heap, with friends. This forsaken Mac is difficult so I decided to use Facebook pics. Please click for full effect. We're hot? uh... Opening act... Immi shoes behind the curtain. Opening act #2. Hot stuff. That's all I know. Oh, we's hot. Why she gotta be so cool? Cellist. The end.

A Saturday afternoon plus Few friends plus Broken computer plus Waiting for said computer to start up = What can I say? I'm special. I figured I'd make your neck hurt because I'm working on my Mac (work computer), and in spite of my efforts to rotate the pictures, they're not uploading with the rotations. In other news, I love Glee. I am seeing Imogen Heap tomorrow. I love my students. And I need more friends.

So as I said yesterday, I had overwhelming affirmation yesterday of my teaching abilities and of my decisions and policies. I adjusted my policy to an even nicer form than it was before, and my students were so excited. They were kissing my butt. In seventh period, which is pretty much my favorite, I said that I have lots to do, and that if anyone wanted to stay after school and help, I'd give them a candy. I had two sweet boys stay after to help me. One stayed because he had a club meeting after, which ended up getting canceled. He takes the bus home, but he was going to finish what he started quickly and then try to make it to the bus. I insisted that he just stop what he was doing and go catch that bus. He finally stopped. I told him I owe him a candy tomorrow (as he was running out the door) and he told me that he'd pass on the candy. I had another boy stay after and sort papers for me. This means he was bending over at an uncomfortable height to sort papers into st...

I've been praying desperately for assistance with the approaching onslaught of parents angered over their children's incomplete grades. (Incomplete is anything under a C-, gross, huh?) The answer came in a way I wasn't expecting. I was up front with my students today about the flack I've been getting lately regarding my policies being too harsh. Last week was a very bad week full of tears, breakdowns, venting, and significant reconsideration regarding these issues. So I revised my policies according to suggestions to help students succeed. They were all in a frenzy about this change. They hate it. They like my old policy better. They think I'm so "nice." They think I'm so "great." They think if students are doing badly it's because they're just not turning in any work. They started a petition to switch back to my old policy and to tell other critics of my policies to stop picking on me. Seriously? They were so defe...