First of all here is a pic of the "new" couch. Heidi has already started taking the cushions on the love seat apart so too late for a "before" picture there. Anyhow, comfy but worn is how I would describe them at this point. I've already fallen asleep on the couch once.
Today was the first quiz day in my classes and I had to practice being mean. "Is this a group quiz?" No. "Can I use my notes? No. "But you didn't cover the whole lesson last time" me "you wouldn't stop talking. The other section did finish" (we did finish before I gave the quiz out). It was hard but I'm getting to know my students. Some are working hard and coming prepared, some seem to expect a free ride. While some kids see this as "mean" it is also "mean" to give the same grade to the unprepared kids that the ones who worked hard got. I still have much to learn. Part of the chit chatting is because the kids aren't understanding me and they're hoping their neighbors can explain it better. Challenging since, so far what's been easy for me has not been for them. In addition some stuff that was hard for me they just covered and is now easy for them. It's hard to know how much time to spend on things. On the bright side I finally had kids take me up on the offer of help after school. At least I'm not terrifying all of them. Sigh.
teachers can take a page from successful baseball umpires. Their strike zone is consistent for batters on both teams. It is the same for nice players and for angry players. That eventually earns the respect(not necessarily love) of everyone
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