Spring break can't get here fast enough
What a week.
This week is our last week before Spring Break. A glorious five days without students.
But teaching is often about taking three hits to land one. It's the last week of our marking period as well, meaning that I am trying to call parents, putting in final major grades on a tight turnaround schedule, and getting dozens of pieces of late work flying in before I close my grade submission window. We're filling out end-of-marking-period accommodation forms for our students who have 504 plans or receive special education services. Then my actual classroom duties are dropped onto this pinnacle of paperwork.
The students are absolutely in a mood that final week. They're tired and frustrated. They know most of their big grades have been assigned, and many students are feeling the pressure tighten in. Increased staff presence in the hallways to hopefully reduce the risk of our students making poor choices.
And then the complaining.
"Yes, we have a test this week."
"No, you can't do it after Spring Break."
"Yes, we still have work to do this week."
"No, we're not going to 'have a free day' because I would go insane if I had all 30 of you doing nothing without phones for 50 minutes."
Even students who generally like you are done. The teachers are done. Everyone is done.
Yesterday morning, I took a sip of my morning coffee once I settled in my classroom and it was cold. I don't know how, but I'm pretty sure I didn't boil the water for my French press, and instead just steeped the coffee grounds in room temperature water for 4 minutes. I've been drinking coffee since I was 16, and I have never done this.
I forgot my lunch on Tuesday. But, on the dark side, I did remember to pull my tonkatsu sandwich out of the fridge before I left.
When I scooped the litter box last night, I realized my cats were low on litter. I decided to go to the store after D&D so I didn't risk it getting low while I was at work. I woke up about an hour before my alarm at 3:45am (my neck was hurting because I slept wrong) and realized I had forgotten my chore. I hastily threw a hoodie on over my pajamas and made a late night visit to the obnoxiously lit gas station down the street. It was the closest place open, and it had cat litter.
It wasn't all bad! I found my lost 64oz water flask, which helped with my dehydration headache. This made my flaring up sinus headache less devastating on my tooth ache. Take three to get one.
Just one more wake up. If I can survive to lunch, I'm in calm waters through the afternoon. The last day before break isn't canon anyway.
Hopefully you got a chuckle. Thank you for reading, if you got this far.