Mid-Terms!

Mid-Terms are officially over. Yes, I had to give my students a mid-term exam. I don’t recall ever having that in high school. We would have a test at the end of the 2^nd quarter, but no exam. Here, they schedule 4 days for exams. Wednesday, the 25^th was the first day of exams. My exam schedule was the same for Wednesday, Sunday and Monday: an essay test 8 am – 9:30, a half hour break, and then reading comprehension, quotation analysis and grammar 10 – 11:30. Then I got to grade them all. They had to be graded and entered into the system by 8 am the next day. I was a little nervous about this. That seemed like an awful lot to get done, but the other two 9^th grade teachers and I had a grading party. We sat and read things out loud that we found to be really good (or really ridiculous) and ate pizza. I finally had Papa John’s here. It was the closest American franchise I’ve had here for taste. It was greasy, delicious and gave me a stomach ache. Oh well!

I didn’t have an exam on Thursday for my classes, because that was my free period (A2/B2). I did proctor an exam for the Honors 11 students. I am really glad I didn’t have to grade those! 3 essays! Gah!

I got another cold on day 1 of exams, and I still have the sore throat. Apparently it’s that time of year. We’ve gone from 30 degree days to upper 60’s in a two day period. The weather fluctuates a lot this time of year. Tonight there’s been a bit of a thunderstorm. It’s so interesting to hear thunder in January! I guess they’re not that common. It’s rained more this year than in past years – I’ve polled the returning teachers. It’s also quite dry, so I think I might finally break down and invest in a humidifier.

Today I also talked to the Activities Director. Guess who is going to be the new debate coach for the speech team next year? It's not like I've never judged debate at the college level or regular speech events at the high school and college level, but coaching is another deal. I guess I know what my homework is for the summer! Also, it's not like I enjoy arguing or anything, so I can't be THAT bad at it :)

Once I get back to my regularly scheduled non-sick program, I do intend on posting some pictures of the school, my apartment, and some of my students’ work. I have some very talented kids!

I am officially half-way through the school year people! WAHOO! 4 1/2 months until home!