whew

Today was a rough day. I'm not going to expound too much since it's late and I went to bed at 1-ish yesterday, but there was a whole lot going on and I just about couldn't handle it.

All my paperwork for being a beginning teacher was supposed to be due today (I'll get to that), and grades are due tonight at midnight. And I had soccer duty after school that no one took even though I sent out an email twice. And we had benchmark testing today, which are basically mock End-of-Grade tests.

So I started out by staying up really late last night to get some grading done, which meant I was super sleepy when I woke up this morning. It sure doesn't help that I still haven't changed the light bulb in my bedside lamp, keeping me from having any light to turn on when I wake up.

I get to school super tired and with a huge stack of papers to grade still in my bag, and I count all my materials and go to my classroom. Kids are going crazy, I don't know what I'm doing, etc. We start testing...and my kids do pretty well. Even the not-so-serious kids take it seriously. After the test time is up, I collect everything and stand at the door letting kids go to the bathroom one or two at a time. I've called the office to let them know I'm done, I've got my materials in order, etc. when a kid asks, What happens if we don't finish? And come to find out, even though he was playing with his shirt and looking around the room and doing a whole lotta nothing toward the end of the test, he didn't finish. We're supposed to give them as much time as they need. What am I supposed to do? I've got kids out in the hallway and others chatting it up since they're finished, and he drops that on me. So I quiet them down as much as possible, give him back his test, and he slowly finishes. All the while the admins are trying to get me to go to lunch, the kids are confused and hungry, and I'm hoping I didn't fulfill my worst fears of royally screwing up a testing session.

Anyway, we finish and I send my kids to lunch as I organize my materials, and then I get in trouble twice for sending my kids before turning everything in. Won't do that again. I'm stressing now because of being in trouble, plus my first paperwork meeting is in an hour and a half, and I've got restless kids on my hands. I get very little done during homeroom, and I scramble to do things during 6th period planning. I fake it during my 7th period meeting, and I keep kids on task and break up fights in 8th period.

THEN after school I find out that the soccer game is already shorthanded and I must reschedule my second paperwork meeting for sometime (when, with benchmarks this week?). I grab some papers to grade and head outside where it's so windy that all the money is blowing away at the ticket table. No grading papers, clearly. After the game, I finally go in and get some grades done...but it makes me miss my Tuesday night dinner.

The upside to it all? My grades are done, and Brandi and Christina are the best ever. They brought me a scrumptious chicken quesadilla from the Mexican restaurant where they went for dinner. They even kept me company while I finished up my grades. I left at about 8:00, so I was at school a full twelve hours today. Groooosssssssss.

Now I'm home, I ate dinner, talked to the fam, watched this week's Big Bang Theory, checked email, and it's time for bed.

Oh Lordy, keep me going this week....