Wandering through the woods

I wonder whether it is my moral obligation as a teacher to stop my kids from using carelessly-offensive language like "that's so gay." Or is it just me coming from another paradigm?

( whinging ahoy! )

The only thing that made stupid Ed classes better was taking this pretty fountain photo after class, and then coming home and talking to Matt L., and Jenn, for a bit.

I never chat, I never write, etc. I know. I've been awful about communication, partly because I'm so overwhelmed with new classes.

Yesterday's class (for my Master's from Pace), though, where the main idea is "breaking barriers in teaching," was a fun one, though; our first day, I felt much more excited about the prospect of going back into the classroom, rather than ground down. We focused on what the teach of English was, and the various philosophies and personalities of other teachers around the room reminded me of why I was teaching; it made me a more directed teacher, and a nicer one, coming back into the classroom.

My 3rd/4th period class was still murder to teach, of course; they refuse to let me lead a discussion, and they're rude to each other when they speak. I've finally given up, and decided to go with just bombarding them with worksheets, writing assignments, and homework; that seems to work, although it's much less fun.

On the other hand, my sophomore class was as good as ever, with Macbeth, and despite the fact that I'm utterly exhausted by the work of constantly putting myself up in front of a class, they make it worthwhile.

I only need to sleep more... 5 hours of sleep just isn't good enough, and it's what I'm getting, between one thing and another. My brain isn't fully functional -- which is ironic, given the number of classes I have, where I'm either a teacher or a student. You'd think that it would be more awake. But no; Kim's definitely feeling floppy.