TSS - 03.28.10

Well, this week was the return to school after a glorious, albeit wintry, spring break.  And oh my, what a week it was.  I must say that I can deal with student issues far better than I can deal with parent issues (I guess I expect students to act like kids...but I have higher expectations of parents).  Anyway, suffice it to say, I am ready to get through these next seven weeks of school and have a nice, long, holiday break.

I spent the day yesterday trying to plan my grading for the rest of the semester.  I have a little break between now and April 15 (and yes, I did intentionally plan to take off the weekend of April 10 for the read-athon!), but I will then be grading nearly non-stop for a month!  Here is a sampling of what I have to look forward to:

• 15 Hobbit exams that include short answer questions and a literary essay
• 3 journalism articles for each of the 15 students in English 1 (total of 45 articles)
• 33  British Literature research papers that are to be between 8 and 10 pages long
• 15 original mystery stories to be written by my 7th graders (probably 3-5 pages long)
• 19 Grammar finals (7 page test) plus  literary essay
• assorted finals for computer apps, British literature, 7th grade, and English 1

So, I plan to fully relish in the next two weeks.  The weather is supposed to cooperate, and this week we are to have sunny weather with highs in the 70s.  I plan to go to my island retreat and read, write, and take photos.

I am progressing nicely with my required summer reading.  I have finished Walden (which I have decided that I need to investigate Transcendentalism a bit more - I am fascinated), Frankenstein (I absolutely LOVED this book and can hardly wait to read it again), and am currently about half way through The Scarlet Letter (this is a second read for me and I am also thoroughly enjoying it as well).  I think I will try to read some of the shorter selections during my busy grading period:  Rime of the Ancient Mariner, selected works from Edgar Allan Poe, and Song of Myself by Whitman.

Can I tell you how excited I am for the next Dewey 24 Hour Read-athon scheduled for April 10?  I am thrilled that I was able to adapt my grading to allow me to have the entire weekend free.  I have already decided that I will not read anything that is teaching related or for my summer school class.  This is going to be a weekend for ME - and I will only read books that are pure relaxation.  I plan to develop a potential reading list this week (I have Good Friday off, which means a nice long weekend) and will perhaps make that my posting for next week's Sunday Salon.

While I have absolutely NO business bringing new books into this house .... I simply could not avoid the Half Price Bookstore coupon sale this week.  Most of the bargains that I found are related to writing - so I feel as though I can justify that spending since it is "for school" - but I did find a few that I know I will personally like to read at some point and time.  I will try to write a post about this recent buying spree early this week.

The sun has finally decided to peep out from behind the week's worth of clouds, and I am feeling better already!  I hope to spend the rest of the day finishing lesson plans for the week, reading the Scarlet Letter, and fantasizing about the fun I will have during the read-athon.

I hope this finds all of you in the spring spirit and I wish you wonderful week ahead!