No, thanks,
please DON'T ask me how robotics went today. Today, I can't blame the badness on computers, only on my grouchy self. PMS is REAL, people. It gives my principal killer migraines and turns me into someone who is bitchy to lazy (okay, VERY lazy) 12-year-olds and then feels so bad about all the negativity that I want to cry the whole way home and end up grading papers in a diner while scarfing french fries and wondering why I have no friends, and calling them all one at a time until I've proven to myself that I DO have friends, some of them willing to travel across the city to save me from myself.
I am trying to forget the three kids who volunteered - VOLUNTEERED!!!! - to finish building the boat and then did NOTHING for an hour. Well, nothing except swordfight with Legos and "slash" each other's cheeks with Legos.
I am trying to remember the 8 kids who did exactly what I wanted them to, who diligently pored over books about the ocean, who brainstormed research questions with virtually no direction from me, who solved interpersonal problems on their own, who were, well, awesome. The 8 kids who volunteered to start cleaning up early when they'd finished as much research as they could handle for one day. I am trying to remember the two kids who, after a little focusing, worked quite hard on redesigning a robot to include a rotation sensor, while a third estimated the number of clicks from the base to the grey fish (or shark, or dolphin, or whatever the hell it is) and wrote a program to get the robot to tap the fish, and then rewrote it after discovering a key error.
We actually got a fair amount done, but it was no fun whatsoever. I think a few kids are going to quit, some of them kids that I knew would be difficult but I hoped to reach through this program.
And it doesn't help that the legitimate disappointment and frustration I feel - with the kids, the program, but most of all, myself - is being blown up to a thousand times actual size by my stupid hormones. Grrr. Go away! And don't tell me this post was TMI, I don't want to hear it!
Well, back to fantasizing about chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate.
*****
In other news, my observation went well, despite the fact that in the middle of the lesson, just when I needed to hand them out, I discovered that 60 copies of the lab handout had completely and utterly vanished. Without a trace. Gone. Luckily, I'm good at winging it, so I just said, "Quickly draw this chart in your notes, record your results here, and I will give you a copy of the handout after lunch when I make new copies." I knew my principal could deal - it was clearly just one of those things and I solved the problem smoothly and successfully - but I was horrified.
I am trying to forget the three kids who volunteered - VOLUNTEERED!!!! - to finish building the boat and then did NOTHING for an hour. Well, nothing except swordfight with Legos and "slash" each other's cheeks with Legos.
Ms. Frizzle: Why are you doing that? What does that mean?
Boy: It's a gang thing.
Ms. Frizzle: A gang thing? Are you in a gang? Do you WANT to be in a gang? No? Then why would you do that? Am I being unreasonable in asking you to actually get something done when you volunteer to do it? Or at least not to bother the people who ARE trying to get something accomplished? Is that unreasonable???
I am trying to remember the 8 kids who did exactly what I wanted them to, who diligently pored over books about the ocean, who brainstormed research questions with virtually no direction from me, who solved interpersonal problems on their own, who were, well, awesome. The 8 kids who volunteered to start cleaning up early when they'd finished as much research as they could handle for one day. I am trying to remember the two kids who, after a little focusing, worked quite hard on redesigning a robot to include a rotation sensor, while a third estimated the number of clicks from the base to the grey fish (or shark, or dolphin, or whatever the hell it is) and wrote a program to get the robot to tap the fish, and then rewrote it after discovering a key error.
We actually got a fair amount done, but it was no fun whatsoever. I think a few kids are going to quit, some of them kids that I knew would be difficult but I hoped to reach through this program.
And it doesn't help that the legitimate disappointment and frustration I feel - with the kids, the program, but most of all, myself - is being blown up to a thousand times actual size by my stupid hormones. Grrr. Go away! And don't tell me this post was TMI, I don't want to hear it!
Well, back to fantasizing about chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate.
*****
In other news, my observation went well, despite the fact that in the middle of the lesson, just when I needed to hand them out, I discovered that 60 copies of the lab handout had completely and utterly vanished. Without a trace. Gone. Luckily, I'm good at winging it, so I just said, "Quickly draw this chart in your notes, record your results here, and I will give you a copy of the handout after lunch when I make new copies." I knew my principal could deal - it was clearly just one of those things and I solved the problem smoothly and successfully - but I was horrified.
posted by ms. v. at 11:04 PM
11 Comments:
Yeah, and being pregnant means you ALWAYS feel like you have pms. It's a party, I tell you.
*****
I hate when things like that happen in observations. But it seems like you dealt well with it. Good job.
I'm so freakin' hormonal right now, it's not even funny.
PMS hath reared it's ugly head in a big way...I can sympathize completely.
Being a hormone hostage really sucks ... hang in there and you definitely have my sympathies!
Whenever I fantasize about chocolate, this is what I see. Just melts in my mind....
I can empathize, I am a hostage to my hormones almost everyday now that I am in my 40's. You have many more years to look forward to. I get migraines and terrible moods swings. I have even named the entity my evil twin. She is such a bitch! Anyway, the only way I ahve been able to deal with her is with biofeed back and most recently the pill. It has helped the mood swings. Good luck and I think it will be okay. It usually is once the hormone storm is over.
I get paranoid. Everyone is out to get me. They're all laughing at me. That group that went out to lunch? They're talking about me behind my back. The whole lunch time. Even though I rarely interact with them, they're still going out to lunch just to laugh and poke fun.
All that AND a migraine at the end. Fun times.
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Yeah, I hate the way I can only remember the bad things that happened with the kids that day and not all the ok or good things. 15 horrible minutes can ruin the whole day (not that I've ever actually had a day with only 15 horrible minutes in it, but you know what I mean...)
Sounds like you need a timeout. I would suggest you talk to the students and ask them whats going on with them? Maybe you and they are burnt out and need a break from Robotics.
Find something fun to do...A trip to the Hayden Planetarium??
If they are good kids they will bounce back after the Christmas vacation. So will you
The men on these posts just don't get it!
"A class trip???... Time out????... You will feel better soon???"...I'd like to give YOU a TIME OUT!
PMS does not last a day. And the migranes, Oh My God!
Sorry guys, you may mean well, but there are some posts you really should not respond to!
Your kids will forgive because you are clearly a wonderful, dedicated teacher. They might not have a clue that they know it, but they do.
I hope you don't lose kids from the robotics program. Do you think you might be able ot hold onto them?
Jonathan
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