i’m currently laughing my ass off. no acronyms here. another to add to the blogroll enjoy ladies read the BIG LOVE post, in reverse

hey. i’d like to have two boyfriends. i mean, two, all the time. together. what? what’s wrong with that? i deserve it after waiting all this time for ONE.

there must be about an inch thick of ice on my car right now. i got up and thought ‘maybe i should turn on the TV to see what the weather is like’ lots of school closings, and i start seeing private schools in the city are closed. so i wait, since we are in the N’s or something, to see if my new district is closed. yep. it scrolled by so fast. i thought ‘what if i’m wrong? i better check online.’ so i did. all three news stations and the district site. yes, we’re closed. i’m still anxious, for some reason.

NOT looking forward to trying to get my car de-iced later on today. i’ll probably have to do it a couple of times. i don’t want it to get so thick i can’t get in it at all.

this is when a remote starter would be really helpful.

or a husband.

i now know what people meant when they offered condolences on the “other” building i have to work in, every other day.

i remained calm, but there was so much crap going on, with the kids. teachers could be heard basically all day long, at different points, screaming at kids. i get that, because sometimes they are so out of control, and act like you’re not even in the room.

but all day long? and sometimes, i don’t know, it didn’t seem to me, that anything but screaming had been tried at all (many of these instances happened in the libr, so i heard and saw).

but i don’t have to be with them all day long. i feel sorry for those teachers that do. i’d probably be screaming too. or i’d just quit.

i did have a few moments of  ‘what have i done?’ today. as quick as i can get out of that building, i am sure i will try. like, next year. supposedly there’s going to be a ’slew’ of retirements. we shall see. i don’t think i would get preference in transfers, but then again, i’m not really sure.

none of the kids were that bad to me, a little rudeness, and some smart alecky bullshit, but nothing too bad. nothing that made me angry with them. one kid went on and on when i told him i was going to lock up all the rolling chairs (and i will) because they’ve ruined them and they are a major distraction. he said i wouldn’t do it, over and over. i let him say it, and finished with ‘watch me.’ then he shut up.

some kids tried to lie about having overdue books. well, that’s pretty much standard. when i checked they looked at me all dumbfounded, ‘but i returned that!’ okay then, i’d say very sweetly, let’s go see if it’s on the shelf. of course, they were not on the shelf. i learned from my last stint not to believe even the most convincing kid. always have to check. sad, but true.

and there was one period when i thought to myself ‘man, i would be acting up too if i had to listen to that so-called lesson.’ the lesson? the teacher reading from a worksheet and the kids answering the boring questions. ugh. but who knows, again, what he has to deal with all the time.

i did have very nice interactions, for the most part, with the students i was able to talk to individually. the thing is, when they’d hear that i was staying, their faces lit up. like they were excited. it was momentary, and then they had to go back to ‘being cool,’ but i saw it. i try really hard to make a personal connection with each kid–even if it’s just ‘i like your tshirt or earrings’ or whatever.

i always call them ladies and gentlemen, and say please and thank you. even when they are really pissing me off. and i try to use a very soft voice with them. especially these kids. they seem to hear you better than yelling. i make a point of going around and talking to them and pointing out positive stuff too.

of course, i did end up using the big teacher voice at the very end of the day, after watching this teacher struggle with her class and screaming at them. i finally said in my authoritative, but very much in control voice ‘your teacher has asked you NUMEROUS times to get in line. now do it.’ they looked surprised, but shut up and did get in line.

i have no illusions. i will lose it sometime. a person can only take so much. but at least if i can try to make those connections i hope it will be easier to get them to listen to me when i need to.

funny, but the reason i would want to leave, is not so much the kids (well, obviously some are a major problem) but the way i heard teachers behaving. sarcastic. mean. riling them up. arguing when they shouldn’t have been. and of course, the screaming. i’m not perfect, i have my moments, that is for SURE. but still…again, i wouldn’t want their job.

wait. i forgot the arrogant tech person. seriously, she was nice and all, but she actually claimed CREDIT for the future successes of the two prior libs there. no, really. she did. it was so comical, i could barely keep a straight face. she seemed to think i knew nothing about circ or organiz systems. i just nodded my head and filed away, not to get on her bad side.

of course, it was my first day there. still feeling out of sorts. i’ll get the hang of things. there’s also the notorius princ to deal with, or to avoid, is more like it. he wasn’t very friendly to me at the end of the day when i was leaving and happened to see him. did he even know who i was? whatever. i think i am better off dealing with him a little as possible. not to mention that i overheard this lengthy conversation he was having with the office staff about going to tanning salons. he’s like, in his 60’s. it was surreal. and then i overheard another conversation between two teachers, one saying he was going straight to the butcher’s shop after work to get a ‘cow’s heart.’ they both seem so excited about that.

ugh. weirdness abounds.