April 17, 2014

Testing was a success again today. I would kind of like to go out with a bang and have the whole thing self-destruct again but that doesn't seem like it is going to happen. We had two tests this morning and they were both uneventful. Several kids had questions about stuff I couldn't answer and I gave them my canned response of being unable to tell them but I could explain it to them after the test. No one took me up on my offer.

After one of the tests one of the resource teachers came down to give me the tickets and scratch paper for the kids she tested with and she was still laughing. She told me that one kid had a book of poetry and the other kid had a book of riddles. When the second kid was done with his test he grabbed a book and started reading it but couldn't figure out any of the riddles. It turns out he had grabbed the poetry book and had been trying to read the poems as riddles.

My afternoon was normal and boring. The funniest part of the afternoon was during one of the kindergarten classes. This one boy, who looks like what I imagine Sheldon from Big Bang Theory looked like as a five-year-old, is always whispering to the girl next to him. In order to do this he has to move her headphones off her ear. Well, after doing that several times today he apparently got tired and instead whispered directly into her mouth, getting real close as if he were whispering into her ear. I laughed. What if whispering into someone's mouth was how it actually worked? That would make for an interesting world.

Another thing I found humorous was when the Math Enrichment teacher, who is also the Boys & Girls Club person, was reading and email to her Boys & Girls Club staff that she had received from her boss regarding appropriate work attire. It said that she had no problem with skinny jeans or leggings or yoga pants but girls had to wear a shirt or top that covered their butt. The staff are supposed to be positive role models and she felt like showing off your ass wasn't appropriate. No duh. Last year there was just one girl, and she's still here this year, that didn't seem to own anything but yoga pants. This year there are one or two more girls that are the same way. To be fair to them, from what I have noticed from my periphery, they are girls that can actually wear the pants and be proud, but I have always thought it was inappropriate clothing for people working with kids. Maybe I'm just being an old man about it but at least the head honcho finally caught on.

Before leaving today I got ready for the start of MAP testing next week. I printed off all the blank score sheets and paperclipped them to the right seating chart, I updated and posted the lab schedule with the test times teachers had signed up for (minus three teachers who hadn't signed up yet), and I made list version of the schedule that had the test times on it and handed out copies to the SPED and Resource teachers. I'm kind of over the whole testing thing at this point. I am a bit envious of the kids because they just have to take the test and be done with it. I however have to relive the same tests over and over again. It feels neverending.

After work I went to Hobby Lobby to see if they had Happy Birthday banners but I couldn't find any I liked. My idea was to hang it on the lab doors and cover up 'Birth' with 'Test' because I thought it would be funny. I looked on Amazon when I got home and was also disappointed with their selection. I think I might look at Target the next time I go and see if they have anything. If not I might just buy decorations and then make a sign at work with a big sheet of paper and cutout letters.

Tonight was Chipotle night. I only had one or two videos to show so I decided to save those for next time. I spent so much time watching Coachella streams over the weekend that I'm a little behind on videos. After dinner I tried calling the new volunteer kid a couple times but I kept getting a weird message and never got through. Fantastic. I've lost track but I think that is at least a couple weeks in a row now. Not good.

So rather than a visit, I spent my night watching YouTube videos and knitting. I'm up to four inches on the new scarf. It looks really cool but in terms of being able to finish it in time for the retiring teacher, it is looking poor. The waffle stitch one should only take between four to six hours so if it becomes more apparent the current one isn't going to work out I'll switch to the waffle stitch one.

Now I'm going to go to bed. It's eleven o'clock and even though I don't have to wake up early tomorrow, I want to sleep. Hopefully through the night with minimal interruptions.