It may not be Kentucky Rain...

Oh Elvis. Today we had a day off from school up at the good ole FDR. The call came in bright and early from Julie. She goes, "Good Morning Greg... Can you hear me... Are you awake?" I grumble and mumble as I'm still asleep and ask what she wants. Apparently the FDR phone chain was in full force, and I had to make sure I actually passed the message on to Anne who is below me on the chain. I was thankful to not have school. I spent the day reading a book on Energy as I was learning about Wind, Hydro and Biofuels, and how they are beneficial as alternative energy sources. It turned out that the day off was probably not necessary. I say this because it rained all day here in Wappingers, and there was no ice or snow to be seen. Maybe it was worse to the north of here? I'm debating what to do with the rest of the weekend. I have to do some christmas shopping, christmas card mailing, and grading of papers.

Yesterday was also an interesting day. I got to school at 7:25 due to the freezing rain that was falling. As i was walking into the school, a parent wanted to talk on the sidewalk. I have no problem talking, but I don't think standing in the rain is necessary. Appointments. Could be an interesting idea when implemented. The rest of the day was spent of sedimentary rock ID labs. This was funny because the kids were getting mad that i told them they had to work quickly, and that i was timing the labs. I try to be fair, and put no unreasonable expectations on them. I also am looking forward to the trip west. Only 14 days!!!

Milltastic!

Today is Wednesday night. I probably should be sleeping, but there is a strong possibility of a snow day due to the impending ice storm tomorrow. It's been a weird day today. I was tired, and it took a long time to get going today.

The day seemed simple enough. I wrote a student up because they said they were better than my class. This was frustrating because I don't think anyone is better than the class. I just want the people to be able to learn in a welcoming environment that everyone's comfortable in. I know I do a good job down there. The principal came in and was happy to see that most people were engaged in my lesson on how to figure out how to figure out the percentage of minerals in various igneous rocks. If this skill doesn't last with them, then at least they learned how to read a chart successfully which is a skill needed always!

It was a rainy ride home, but I was smiling because I got to talk to Meredith while I traveled. The weather is getting ridiculous seeing as the rain was pouring down. Tonight the rain is set to switch to ice which will make the roads impassible. I decided to go to the Christmas play at church tonight. I wanted to see what dad had been participating in over the last few weeks. The show was good, and it was weird to see all of the people from the church. People wanted to talk, but I kept to myself.

Yeooooooo! Miller

Yes...I would like to take a moment out of my day to thank the student who decided to yell that today. It led to an extra advil having to be taken. Today was the day I did the Igneous Rock ID Lab down at FDR. I feel like i'm providing less direct instructions this year because I want the kids to stumble at first as they learn. I believe that making mistakes is the only way too learn.

I talked to Mere briefly as I went out after school. The lights were nice, and it's good to see that people are in the holiday spirit. I'm somewhat disappointed in that I found out the case I didn't get picked for was a constitutional case being held at the lowest level. I fell asleep after eating dinner. I woke up at 845 which is disappointing because I didn't get a chance to talk during the lunch break. Anyway, the rest of the night will be spent relaxing.

"They are who we thought they were!"

That famous quote was delivered back when Denny Green was coaching the Cardinals. It will live in history now.

Today I went to 228 Main Street, which is the home of the Dutchess County Jury Office. They were trying to get us to work a case that would last until the holidays, if not longer! Hooker, the head of the jury commission, was saying that if you were available you should volunteer to work the jury. So another teacher stands up and asks, "What does it mean to be available?". Hookers response, "You are available if you think you are available". This reminded me of Dennis and some of my conversations with Bill.

Afterwards I went to school and hosted the math team's meet. We finished third out of the five teams. Can't complain. We're on the back side of the week now!

Still Going Strong!

Tomorrow I have to go to jury duty. This is mildly entertaining because I have no clue what to expect. I know that I'm not amused that I have to pay for parking at the courthouse, yet I will be receiving no payment for my services (because I get paid my work salary for the day). I should not take a net loss to do my civic duty! I've been tired this week as per usual I had issues falling asleep on sunday night.

Tomorrow is also the third math league meet of the year for the mighty presidents. Hopefully the kids do well. They give their best effort, and I'm appreciative of the work that they put in. Their effort shows in their efforts as they are on track to qualify for the county math meet. I ordered pizzas for the event. Who knew you could get 15 large pizzas for under $100 in NY?

The kids have all been hyper this week. I was not impressed with some of their behavior in class. I don't enjoy hearing cursing throughout the day. If i wanted to be cussed out, I would have picked a different job. There were 17 kids after school for extra help. This kind of got tiring by the end of the afternoon. I should be more relaxed after the light day tomorrow.

I'm also excited because I'm halfway through my time between visits in Oregon. I know I'll be living there soon, but I'm super stoked to be almost there for another visit! Definietly missing everyone out there lately!!!