Day Three

On Day One I was extremely busy after school until I dropped exhausted into bed at 11:30.

On Day Two I was extremely tired from not getting enough rest on Day One.

Now that it's Day Three, I feel awake enough, and have enough time, to blog about my first three days.

The school day goes by very quickly.....which is nice. ; )

My first class is 12th grade....two students, one of which my little brother. We spend most of our class time talking, because they don't have their books yet. It's a nice way to spend the morning. ; ) Since he started driving and has a job and ball practice and games, and a girlfriend it's nice to get to spend a little bit of time with him before he graduates.

Second period is a study hall....with three kids from my 10th grade class. I don't know where the rest of the class is, but, hey, three is okay. ; ) They work on their homework from their first class, and talk quietly. I generally make copies for my classes that don't have their books yet. Hopefully the other books will come in soon and I won't have to do that any more.

Third period is ninth grade....and I have Emma in that class. It's my largest class, with 9 students. It's also the only one I had to make rules for so far.

After third period I go to lunch.

After lunch is eleventh grade, then sixth and seventh grade together, with Anna in that class, and tenth grade is my last class.

I really feel that 10th grade is getting the dregs of the day.....I'm tired, they're tired, and I seriously dislike their book. The other classes have Abeka, 10th grade has BJ. I've never liked it before, and I like it less now that I've used it for three days. ; )

Yesterday I was so tired the day was dreadful....last night I went to bed at 9:30 and slept like a log and today I was much more cheerful. I'm learning how important a good night's sleep *really* is.

Emma had a hard day today. She came up to my classroom during gym class and cried but still hasn't said *why*. Hormomes no doubt, and being unused to someone yelling boot-camp-style at her to do leg lifts and jumping jacks and run around the gym......that and not eating lunch. She's a bit embarrassed to eat lunch in front of the other kids, so tomorrow she's packing her lunch and eating in my classroom with me. I'm learning that gentle parenting is even *more* important with them in school.

As far as the book-work goes, neither has had a problem keeping up (yeah, I do realize it's only day three), and they actually know more about some things than the other kids who have been in school forever. (In Emma's class I asked who knew how to write a summary, and only one other student besides her knew (she took 10th grade English last year, but for some reason is in 9th this year....no, I don't get it either...), but we discussed summaries during the summer at some point...and since she *wanted* to know about it when we discussed it, it "stuck".)

Seriously, one student is in both English 9 and English 11. When I get a chance I'm going to ask why.....if she's passed English 10, why not just give her credit for English 9? What's the point in making her go "back"? If you just wanted some sort of "work", why not have her do a paper or somesuch? There actually are several students doing things I think are nuts...almost my entire 10th grade class did Abeka 10th grade English last year, so this year they're having them do BJ 10th. ???

Both my kids say they don't like Math and Geography/History....whether it's the content or the teachers I don't know yet. They both seem content to stay in, though....I really wondered if they'd be quitting by the end of the first week. They're more resilient than I thought. ; )