May 1, 2014

Fifth grade actually showed up for their test this morning, so that was a good start. And then it became a very long day. After fifth grade, fourth grade came to try to take their State Assessment again and it was working today, so I had them take both parts so I didn't have to worry about finding another time for them to come back. Those were the only two tests on the schedule for this morning but I also had sixth grade coming back for make-ups and that kept me stuck watching test takers until lunch.

After lunch we had a fifth grade assembly. They sang songs from movies and Broadway. The singing was decent but where they really shined was the choreography. I love kids doing choreography. The kids are never quite in sync with each other. There are also the kids that are completely into it and the ones who do just enough to get participation points. It's great. I'm just glad it's not me because I hated performances in front of the school.

Third grade had a MAP test at two o'clock and I nearly sent a kid to the office. The same one I sent during State Assessments. And it's frustrating because he was in my reading group last year and he's a fun kid, but he's has just gotten a really bad attitude about testing recently. Yesterday I stopped him halfway through because he looked like crap and he definitely wasn't into it. Today he was messing around with the keyboard and accidentally selected an answer at random and went onto the next question. He called me over to show me what happened and he did it three or four more times even though I kept telling him to stop. He wanted to go back and actually answer the questions but you can't do that on the MAP test and that really frustrated him and he wanted me to start his test again. A couple of the accidental advances were trying to force me to restart his test. Which I wasn't going to do because he was already in the 20s and there was no way he was going to be able to handle starting over. It was around this time that he almost got to visit with the principal because he was getting very defiant. The only thing that saved him was the teacher coming back into the lab. She had been gone for awhile, the whole time while this was happening, and her kids definitely need her there to keep them in line.

After school I texted the new volunteer kid and found out we weren't going to have a visit tonight because he had to work. Great. But it worked out because I got a text message from my dad saying that my brother had a track meet today. The last home track meet. By the time I checked my messages it was a little after his first race was supposed to start but the track is near my house so I headed over there. And my timing was pretty much perfect because he ran by a little while after I walked up next to my sister, dad, and step-grandpa. When I walked up, I was unexpectedly greeted by my sister's littlest dog, who jumped at me and hit right below my left knee. That caused my knee to snap back and the minor hyper-extension caused me to immediately drop to the ground, where I sat for awhile massaging my knee. My sister apologized and as a consolation said it looked like I intended to sit on the ground, not like I was put there my a tiny dog.

That first race lasted for the few seconds it took my brother to pass by and then there was over an hour until his next race, so I went home for Chipotle night. Which went well. The burrito was decent and I had a good selection of videos to show. Shortly after dinner my sister and I headed back over to the track for my brother's second race. That ended up being the race that never was, at least for my brother, because he didn't run in it. Awhile after that was discovered my dad and step-grandpa took off to go warm up in my dad's truck. That turned into them going home for a bathroom break. My sister and I stayed and played with the dog. Which lasted for over an hour until the last race of the night, that my brother was actually in. It was a relay of some sort and he got passed by a dude right after he went by us but was able to catch back up and pass the dude before passing off the baton. I think it was during this race or slightly before, when I got revenge on the dog. I went to throw his tennis ball, but I did it left-handed, and I ended up nailing him in the forehead with it. The act was completely unintentional but kind of fitting, and hilarious.

My brother hadn't eaten dinner yet, obviously, because he had been at the track meet since the afternoon, so we all ended up at a sports bar. My sister and I had water because we had already eaten Chipotle, but everyone else got food and we sat around and talked. It was kind of nice to just sit there but I couldn't quit yawning.

Right now it is after eleven o'clock and I am tired and a bit screwed. There is only one test on the schedule tomorrow so work should be relatively boring. But I will still be there from eight o'clock to four o'clock. And then at the theater from six o'clock to at least half past two in the morning thanks to a midnight show, which means I won't be home until close the 3:00AM. A twenty-one hour day is a long day. And I will have to be back at the theater at 10:30AM, so I won't be getting a full night of sleep tomorrow night. Much like tonight because I keep typing. I'm stopping now.