For those who love me :)

I have recently been chastised for not writing in my blog by family and friends. So sorry for keeping you out of the loop! At the same time, it is nice to know that people have been trying to keep in touch and want to know about the latest craziness in my classroom.

I. Am. Exhausted. I am so utterly tired that my body is constantly aching and my mind is cloudy from sleep deprivation. I run all day long on adrenaline, going going going. About 1/2 hour after the kids end, the energy is drained from my system and I am struggling to keep my head of my desk and drool off the student's papers. I keep going as I eat my hidden stash of Oreos in my desk and Pandora.com. Not the healthiest of routines. Thank goodness my roommates cook for me and prevent me from jumping right to the cereal and frozen food.

The flu epidemic has hit our school. Almost all of the teachers are sick/getting sick/recovering from sickness. I have over a dozen students who have missed school in the past week (they claim they are sick). I have 5 students who have missed over 5 days of school. How am I going to catch them up? I have 15 students who have not taken my Unit test yet. Not only is my classroom crazy, but I have tens of students running around like sick puppies who have all sorts of excuses of why they can't take the test this day, and why they don't have their essay, and how their lockers have been jammed for 2 weeks, so when they are fixed a month later, I will get their work. Suspicious? I think so. I have been lucky and have not contracted the flu (yes mom, I'll get a flu shot), but I am sure to be the next one to go. I have been chugging "Emergen-C" vitamin packets and handing out mandatory hand sanitizer to every student. Time will only tell.

My 4th period is horrible no doubt, but at least that makes the "okay" days seem like miracles. I just gave my 1st Unit test and only 2 of my seniors didn't fail, 5 of my students refused to take the test, student S really likes to bubble in the letter B, and 2 students got kicked out of the classroom. What a day. It got so bad that I asked my TFA program director Laila to come in and observe me. It is so nice to have an extra pair of eyes in the classroom who notice that it is J who is throwing the baby carrots across the room, K is the one calling people in class, and S makes faces every time I turn my back. I love my mature 9th graders.

So here I am sitting at the kitchen table with my roommates talking about the school budget crisis and comparing school statistics from the Oakland/ West Contra Costa website to our own high school experiences in the rich suburbs. The results are quite sad.

I am exhausted, but I have about 5 more hours of lesson planning and only 3 more hours of energy left in me. I have no plans for this weekend, but Caroline's mom and grandma are coming from Philly, so we are going to entertain them and hopefully get some free meals. One of my favorite holidays is coming up (HALLOWEEN!!) so we are searching for a place to get pumpkins. Theresa is disappointed that there are no huge pumpkin farms where she can go apple picking, go on wagon rides, see the leaves change color, and pick out jack-o-lanterns like on the east coast. Welcome to California!

Ms. Quane

P.s. any costume ideas for Halloween? Maybe something that I could wear to school! haha