It's official

I am the coolest girl I know.

Today I checked my mailbox at school and I had received a 958 page catalog of AV resources. Nine hundred and fifty eight pages. AV resources.

It's okay, you can admit it, I'm the coolest girl you know too.

In other news, it's raining here which works b/c I feel like I'm going to be at work forever (mid quarter grades are due tomorrow and I have pre assessment writing responses to score). Oh well.

Not alone

Fun fact for your Monday:

Who do people talk to the most? Themselves.

Glad to know I am not alone on that one. (Also, is the grammar on this correct? It sounds off, but I couldn't figure it out.)

20 questions

1. Your name
   Jessica
2. Your 3 favorite songs
   What a Wonderful World, Louis Armstrong
   Time of Your Life, Green Day
   G-d Bless the Broken Road, Rascal Flatts
3. Your favorite movie
   National Treasure
4. Your favorite color
   Orange
5. Shower in the morning or at night?
   Morning
6. How many languages do you speak? (list)
   One - English (I know, I'm lame)
7. Your major (if you went to college)
   Elementary education & history
8. Do you spend more time on your feet or butt?
   Feet
9. Last concert you went to
   some local reggae group
10. Last movie you saw in the theater
    Catch the Fire
11. How many times have you tripped over yourself while walking in the past week?
    Countless
12. Was anyone watching?
    Usually
13. Can you roll your tongue?
    Yes
14. Left or Right-handed?
    Right
15. How many rolls of toilet paper are presently at your place (approx. #)
    Four
16. Are you a keen observer and good at math?
    I am very observant, but not so good at math
17. Brief description of your most or last embarrassing moment
    Thursday: walking from community meeting to class with my 21 seventh grade boys behind me. I am instructing two seventh grade boys from another class to stay in line and stay to the right hand side. Turning at the landing to take the second set of stairs down from the gym, I get my left heel caught in the cuff of my right pant leg and barely manage to catch myself on the railing. Had I not done so, I surely would have tumbled down the stairs. Even still, I managed to look quite ridiculous in front of approximately 25 adolescent males. Neat.
18. What did you do yesterday?
    Babysat Daphne and Leo. Watched Wisconsin lose to Michigan. Drank Miller High Life. Flirted with a cute guy. Caught up with a newly old ASM-er. Shopped at the organic market. Ate pizza. Talked to Maggie. Talked to Austin. Watched Failure to Launch. Graded papers.
19. What did you have for breakfast?
    Kashi cereal, oj
20. What are you avoiding right now?
    Curriculum maps

Symphony of sorts

This morning I gave a quest (shorter than a test, longer than a quiz) to my seventh grade boys. In second period, this was no big thing b/c I only have ten of them and two were absent so I was able to spread them out all over the place. In first period, we were looking at much closer quarters as I have 21 students, 21 desks and not a lot of extra space. Our principal helped get them settled and started quickly and our behavior specialist swung by to check on things, so they were actually really quiet, which for them is highly unusual. The only sounds were those of pens and pencils on paper, deep thinking (for younger students this is an active and sometimes audible process) and that tell tale sound of fall: sniffling and coughing. Seriously, not to be gross, but there was so much snot going on in first period that I was getting legitimately grossed out. At one point I had to make them all stop what they were doing so I could address the noises. I cannot do them justice in words, but I think most of you can imagine. Ew.

Now my seniors are finishing an essay exam (and thinking evil things about me, I'm sure) and then I'll do a class on McCulloch v. Maryland with my AP kids and I'll be done for the day. It's our first half day, which means our first round of interim assessment grading. Our students are tested every four weeks in the same way that they would be tested for the annual standardized exam. We then meet as faculty teams to score their written responses and identify areas that need work. Then we focus on those areas until the next assessment. It's actually a great process with a lot of merits, but the first assessment scoring is always a little depressing, at least for the seventh graders.

Random things:

1. Tomorrow UW plays Michigan! I'm going to watch the game at our local alumni bar, although I'll get there late b/c I'm babysitting until 12:30pm.
2. I got a new toy at work - a Dell Inspiron 640m. It's very new and small and wonderful. It means I can work from home and that I can connect to my new ceiling-mounted projector and to my smartboard. Plus it looks cool. I'm so technological now, it's awesome.
3. Fall starts tomorrow. In DC that means it will be 84 degrees and humid. I have to take Leo, one of the kids I now babysit on Saturdays (he has a younger brother and sister), to soccer practice. It will be fun, but hot. Oh well.
4. Happy birthday, Jeff! Happy birthday, Angela! For very different reasons, you are both amazing people using your talents to change this world for the better and I, for one, appreciate you. I hope you live it up tonight!
5. My friend Laina reminded me that it is Rosh Hashanah tonight. I had completely forgotten. Like I wasn't a bad enough Jew to being with. Not having a real planner is no good. Anyway. L'shanah tovah, everyone! May this new year be filled with peace, happiness and success.

Smile.

Three seventh grade girls are eating lunch in my room right now. They just had this conversation:

K: Are y'all going to go here through 12th grade?
Y & T: Yep.
Y: Wouldn't it be tight if we all went to the same college?
K & T: Yup.
K: I'd be all like, "Hey, T"
T: And I'd be, "Hey, K"
Y: No, but I am going to the University of Maryland.
T: I am going to UCLA or Stanford.
K: I want to go to Harvard.

Yes, ladies and gentleman, this is why I do what I do where I do it.

uh. oh.

I am so not in the head space needed to teach right now. Which is problematic given that I must be at our community meeting in less than 20 minutes and begin teaching 15 minutes after that. I think it may end up being a long day.

Stupid.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Every time I get excited about the possibility of dating someone, the door gets slammed in my face. Hard. Well folks, me and my face are just about through. Seriously.

Witness: after a few fantastic email exchanges, new guy and I make plans to meet for coffee Sunday afternoon. He is to choose the location and call me Friday night since I do not have Internet at home (I am very clear on this). As of 9pm SATURDAY, I am going a little crazy since I have not heard from him. So, to quell the mocking voices in my head ("I told you so..." etc), I DRIVE TO WORK to check my email. And I find this message, sent at 1pm today:

I thought I was ready to start dating again, but it's becoming increasingly clear that I'm really not. Consequently, I should end this now rather than later. Sorry.

Anyone know what I'm supposed to think of all this? Because at this point, I'm out of ideas. Clearly I am to remain on the bench b/c whoever is coaching this game (and it is so obviously NOT me) does not think I am ready to play.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.