ruff...

It's been a rough couple of days. The weather is funky--we're having a heat wave or we're having tornado warnings--and it's got everyone on edge. It's the end of the school year and the students are convinced that we should not be doing any work whatsoever. I think the middle school spoils them with a week of Field Day activities, so that at high school they think the last week of school is just fun and games. Well, I'm no fun and games-er, so we're working on an analysis of the Plessy v Ferguson Supreme Court case. And the culminating activity is an essay they have to write explaining their position on "Does treating people equally mean treating them the same?" With a tie in to segregation.

Yes, I am an evil bitch.

Next year everyone at school will have to take a comprehensive final exam. This year there are ways to opt-out of the exam. Unfortunately it has created an atmosphere of exams being punitive. I keep explaining to my students that it is an opportunity for them to show me what they have learned from all our hard work. That I wouldn't give them a test to measure what they don't know. Or a test that is to trick them. The purpose of the test is to hone their academic skills. To practice their study skills and their test-taking skills. And with that in mind, I'm going to create a tool to measure their success and growth. But no-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o... I'm again being an evil bitch. So it's a philosophical difference of opinions. And academics does not win.

I'm ready for summer vacation. Just like they are. Probably more than they are.

So, yeah, it's been a rough couple of days. And having no internet has been a thorn in my side, too.