Lost weekend

My calico kitty Molly has taken to loudly meowing at the crack of dawn, so both Saturday and today I got up at 5:30; granted, this is an hour later than my weekday schedule. Oh well, one of the good things about being middle aged is that I don't need as much sleep. I'm a morning person, after all. By noon yesterday I had finished laundry, shopping, and downloading and copying several hundred pages of teacher guides and worksheets. I'm preparing a research unit on the Nazi Holocaust for my eighth graders, who will be reading Elie Wisel's Night. By evening I had prepared a pretty reasonable draft plan to run by the social studies teacher and librarian tomorrow to see if it is feasible.

I also found some lesson plans for Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried. My new class set arrived last week; I hope this Vietnam fictionalized memoir will spark the collective interest of my American Lit class. Engaging this class has proved a major challenge; I have four seniors repeating from last year. Actually, it's helpful to hear their assessments of things they read or didn't read last year.

Today I'll work on lesson plans for my five classes. Among other projects, I've been concentrating on remedial writing skills for my eight grade writing lab kids (they're the ones with the lowest test scores). The special ed folks at my school are wonderful! They gave me a new aide for my M-W-F writing lab; Mrs. Farmer has been a godsend, smart and perceptive and great with kids--and indestructibly cheerful and upbeat. I am so lucky!

So it's back to the drawing board for Lynnikins. Our four-day Presidents' Day weekend is looming on the horizon. I could really use some time to myself. But at least I have a meaningful, creative job that lets me use my talents and skills.