Adventures · of · Teacherman

http://blog.dagoosh.com/post/2009/05/14/one-or-two-spaces-after-period.aspx

Apparently, after all this time, two spaces after a period is wrong?  Since when did this happen?  Since when did one space become the norm?  Two spaces now!  Two spaces forever!

So when I restarted this journal, I was hoping to be able to update it fairly frequently, talking about what's going on in the school, my life, the world, etc. What I didn't anticipate, and I mentioned this in my previous post, was how much goddamned work being a teacher really is.

It's gotten a little easier, I think, but the workload has all but increased. Last weekend, I spent almost the entire weekend catching up on grading. That's what irritates me the most about this job (aside from students who don't pay attention in class, don't do the homework, and then wonder why they're doing so crappy in class): I have to bring so much of my work home with me every day. I can't be done when I leave the school. In fact, I'm never done. There's always something more to do.

I guess the key, then, is to find that balance where I have enough done to get by and leave myself time for, say, sleeping. I'm not getting enough of that. And I think my attitude during a day is directly related to the amount of sleep I've been getting. So I need to get more. But that's the thing; I've been forced to make the decision between getting more sleep and getting more work done.

It's a balance.

I few other things...

--Sometimes I'm surprised by how well my girlfriend and I jive with each other. Aside from having almost exactly the same interests (how many of you can spend quality time with your SO playing World of Warcraft) and occasionally completing each other's sentences, we also think alike. We were going to eat in downtown Ithaca and as I was pulling into a parking garage we saw a squirrel scampering along a cement wall right next to us. Both of us, completely independently, decided its name should be Jimmy. Add this to us both independently naming a guy who used to frequently represent a local cider brewery at the farmer's market "Steve" and it's a little scary :P

--There have actually been a lot of crazy things happening at the high school. It pretty much all hearkens back to an incident a few years ago when a girl was racially harassed a few times on a school bus. The mother asked the district to do something, but I guess the district dragged their feet. So the mother sued. I'm a little unclear on the details, but I guess what's upsetting most people is that the district asked the court to dismiss the case on the grounds that the woman didn't follow "proper channels" which everyone interpreted to mean that the district didn't want to deal with the situation. There have been protests in front of the school board building (which is actually right next to the school) and then a few days later a bunch of students in the school protested through the halls, locking things down for about half an hour.

There have since been several forums for students to get together and talk about some of these issues, so I hope they're making progress.

--This won't matter or make sense to anybody who doesn't play World of Warcraft, but the guild I'm in finally managed to take down Prince Malchezaar in Karazhan. I got a kickass healing cloak.

That's all for now, I guess!

How are you all doing?  It's been awhile since I've talked to most of you.  Needless to say, a lot of things have happened.

I'm finished with school.  I got a job as a math teacher at Ithaca High School and will be starting in about a month.  I've been thinking it might be nice to have a place to jot down thoughts and ideas and get suggestions on.  I thought about doing a video blog on YouTube, or something silly like that, but this is probably better.  I'll likely redesign the journal a bit before that, though.

More than that, though, I think I've missed a lot of you.  For many of you, o people for whom I appear on friend's lists, this was one of the few places I could communicate.  I don't even really remember now what happened to make me stop.

I think it's because I associated this journal with a bit of a dark period in my life; one which I didn't really want to revisit when I got through.  But now, now that so much time has passed, I think it's not as big a deal.  I'm an adult now, after all.  I should be able to handle it.  Plus, it helps, y'know, to not go back and look at past entries.  Maybe I will someday, I might surprise myself.  But not now.

On the other hand, maybe it was just laziness, or maybe I didn't feel like I needed this any more.

Whatever the case, I'm making this post now, if only to illustrate to people that I have not died.  I suppose I can't promise that I'll continue to update, but I guess I just wanted to pop in and say "Hi."

So Hi! :)

(oh and sorry for the odd disjointment of thoughts.  It *is* 3:15am at the moment...)

Desktop weather has a "wind advisory" going. No kidding. I can hear it outside and every so often I feel my building physically sway.

So today I took my GREs. For those of you who don't know, the GRE (Graduate Record Examination) is basically the SAT for college grads. If you want to apply to graduate school, most schools require that you take the GRE.

Anyway, the day does not get off to a good start when I get all the way to my car and realize that I'd left my keys in the apartment. Fortunately, one of my roommates was there so the door wasn't locked, and somebody was going through the front door so I didn't need my proximity chip. No big deal, didn't even make me late, though I just thought it was funny.

I find the place (after having to drive an hour to get to) and go in. They make me put my cellphone, and other electronics into a locker. They're not allowed into the testing center. They give me a form to fill out and I have to copy an affidavit in cursive. They won't let me print. This takes several minutes longer than it should because I haven't actually written anything in cursive since I was in 5th grade.

I'm taking a computer version of the test, so they sit me down and take my picture, then send me into a room with lots of cubicles and video cameras overhead, taping everyone. It's a little creepy, but since this is a standardized test that's used for things as important as graduate and medical school tests, I can understand it. After a brief tutorial, where I learn how to use a mouse and scroll using scroll buttons, the test finally starts.

Writing section first. I write an opinion piece based on some quotation that I choose, then I analyze an argument assigned to me. Verbal section next. I suck at the Antonyms and Analogies, but I think I do well at the fill in the blanks and reading comprehensions. Math section last. It's the only one that I really take my full time on because I want to do well. 45 minutes, 28 questions, there's about 2 minutes when I'm done. Then there's a nifty test section where they test new forms of questions, including questions where they want you to select more than one answer. The 100 people who do the best on each round get $250!

The coolest part, though, of the computerized version is instant return on the score. Writing has to be looked at by real people, so they don't give you that. But verbal and math are given right then and there. I'll put them behind an LJ cut if something like this bothers you to know :P

( Read more... )

So I get back to my room and hear music coming from somewhere. This is not unusual. Then I realize that it's singing, specifically a capella. I open out my window and peer out, to discover that the Cayuga's Waiters are having an impromptu concert on the roof of the building next to mine. Awesome.

So I replied to a post on the Ithaca Craigslist some time ago and got to talking to the person. We decided to meet up, but that was several weeks ago. The first time we missed each other, unfortunately, and the subsequent weeks we weren't able to for one reason or another. A bit of time went by and we didn't e-mail each other at all, then I suggest we try again.

This was the response:
"I am sorry, but I am no longer interested in meeting you."

...ouch. This would be one of those times where I don't want to feel hurt or upset, because really this is so insignificant. I never knew the person. But still. Was there something I did? Or didn't do? I can't help but feel irritated.

EDIT: Follow up. I asked why.
"I broke up with my boyfriend about a week ago. I am not a person with a lot of free time and much of my time is actually now spent responding to the ad responses of people who I would actually be interested in possibly dating. I am sorry."

[sigh] Fair enough, I guess. Disappointing, but fair...

Okay, I'm skipping too many classes. I'm either sleeping or too lazy or just don't want to go, but I've been missing more classes than I've been going to lately. So I need everyone to yell at me and tell me to stop that.

Should I be concerned that it's becoming a regular occurance that I leave my apartment at around 8:30 most mornings and don't come back until after 10, and sometimes even midnight?

So some of you know about my recent car troubles, resulting in a repair bill of over 800 dollars. Well, among other things, I had to pretty much max out my recently obtained credit card to pay for it. So I was all worried when the first payment for it would show up and whether or not I'd have enough money to pay it.

Well I'm less worried now:
Cash or Credit Available: $2.41
Total Minimum Payment: $15.00 due 11/02/2005

http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=1693466&ok=true

My favorite would be IYY's way down towards the bottom.

Okay, I don't know how much of you go to www.fark.com at all, but one thing they frequently do is hold photshop contests. They always go in one of two directions: either there is a source image that people modify or use in another situation, or there is some theme that everyone plays to.

Well anyway, on a whim, I decided to submit that picture of me and a kid during camp as a photoshop idea. AND IT WAS ACCEPTED! I'm going to "co-star" in a fark.com photoshop contest! Wheeee!!!

I have a leak in my brake fluid system. Any recommendations? Beyond "take it in somewhere." I plan on that, but I can't right away. I need it tomorrow.

So I get up this morning, around 8 as is normal for a Monday, and take a shower and all, no problem. Afterwards, I happen to check my phone and notice there's a voicemail. "Odd," I think, wondering who would call me at close to 1:30 in the morning. So I listen to it.

Some guy, I have NO idea who, has called me up asking me who did "Jenny - 867-5309" and pleading with me to call him back tonight (as in, during the night that he called, so I guess I'm too late). He says he has 50 bucks riding on it, which he doesn't have, so he's calling me for his lifeline. I have no idea who this guy is or how he got my number. I do happen to know the answer (Tommy Tutone, later redone by Everclear, I believe), so I wish I'd gotten the call, but what the hell? It's too early to call him back, but I'm definitely going to to find out what the hell is going on.

Don't you hate it when you spend a solid 2 hours reading and writing a 3 page paper on the readings, only to find out that you weren't actually supposed to do that paper, and was supposed to do a 5-7 page paper about a completely different topic, due tomorrow?

I sure do.

Hello,

We have notified the winners of the AMTNYS Scholarships. Unfortunately,
you were not selected. This year there were close to 40 applicants, making this
one of the harder years to make a selection.

Our AMTNYS Scholarship is presented each year, so I can invite you to
re-submit your application next year, if you would still be qualified. You may submit
an application if you are an undergraduate student. This also applies if you were to
apply in the spring of your senior year. If you are planning to enter graduate school,
a scholarship would still come in handy, if you were to be selected next year.

Best Wishes to you for your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

Prof. Fred Roberts, Chair
AMTNYS Professional Services Committee

That and it looks like this analysis class is going to be a royal PITA. Unfortunately, I can't drop it. I just need to remind myself that I'll still get credit for it with a grade as low as a C-... Of course, that would wreck my hopes to graduate with a 3.5. I guess we'll see how things go.

Don't you hate it when you spend an inordinate amount of time trying to solve a homework problem only to discover, just after having solved it, that you didn't have to do it in the first place?

I sure do.