Bad News

It's not totally what you think. I found out over the weekend that my boss's husband was very ill. He's been sick for a number of years, and around this time last year got very sick. My boss was pretty much absent for the rest of the school year. I was surprised to hear that he took a sudden turn over the weekend and I found out this morning that he passed away last night.

Of course my thoughts and prayers are with my boss and her family at this time, and my boss is out of the office until further notice. I'm so sorry for her loss. I can't imagine losing your partner of 30+ years, no matter how long they've been ill.

Personally, I'm frustrated. I was supposed to be finding out--right now, actually--if I had a job for the coming year or not. I feel bad and selfish, because I know my boss would be here if she could. I know that she's not bailing on us--she's got the best/worst reason for not being here today and this week. I just hate not knowing one way or the other.

Today has just been a crazy and long day already. I'm not looking forward to a week of this if this is how it's gonna be! I had forgotten how crazy the last weeks of school are. There are only 7 weeks left, but in actuality it's 5. Our grades are due about a week and a half before the end of the year, so I feel kind of like a babysitter at the very end. I wish that we could turn our grades in after the last day of school so all the behavior and wrap-up work would count for something.

On top of all the bad news about my boss, I paired up kids in 7th grade for a project, and two boys I paired up threw a minor tantrum. Seriously. It didn't hit me until a little later that they're both only children to the nth degree. In my opinion they're pretty spoiled and they do not share well. I paired them up because one is a little more focused than the other; the second student tends to sit and let his classmates do the work while he takes the credit. I figured it'd be a good exercise for them in learning to work with people they don't like. Unfortunately, they just weren't handling it well and they pitched a major fit and I couldn't even get through the rest of the partnerships.

I spoke with them privately and hated to do it but gave them an ultimatum: prove to me today that you can work well together or you wil be separated and will work alone in different classrooms until the project is finished. They had one chance to prove to me that they could work together. Surprisingly, they actually managed to work together, not terribly well but well enough for today. I'll still need to speak with one or two parents, I'm sure (yuck), but I probably won't have to make any calls for another few days.

In other news, I'd forgotten how neurotic 5th graders are. Holy Mother of Mercy!!! Every little thing is a big deal to them. Seriously. The 5th grade teacher sent 8 kids in to finish their reports; apparently she only wanted to send 6 but 2 extra came along for the party. One of the girls who said she was "one of the first six" just kept whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiining about it! "The teacher only sent six! There are eight people in here! The teacher only sent siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiix!" Holy moly. I'm slowly losing my patience for the small, silly stuff. If no one's bleeding, screaming, crying, being attacked by zombies, or being poked in the eye with a sharp implement, it's "NOT A BIG DEAL!" That's my mantra right now. I'm considering posting it at the front of my classroom just so everyone can understand that life isn't to be taken quite so seriously. Chill, man...you'll get your eraser back momentarily.