24

I want to move! Werty told me that was BooBear's objective for today. He can't quite figure out how to crawl yet, but he's not content to sit still anymore. He's filling out more in the face and turning in to such a little boy instead of a baby. We really need to go get a family photo taken, but it is hard to find the time. Things keep coming up like he cuts a tooth and screams all day. Hmm, do I want to pay that much to get pics of him screaming? Let me think about that one...

I realized that I have set myself up in a bad situation - I will have to score the IB IA papers the same week that term 3 grades need to be finalized. Completing the term 3 grades is tricky for a few reasons. The previous ESL teacher had the students do their work in spiral notebooks that stay in the room, and I continued that tradition. However, we used to be able to work with the students in small groups, so there was a teacher working with the students and making sure the students were writing in the notebooks on the next available page. Since they combined the two levels into one class, which are really three levels - low beginning, high beginning, and intermediate - and we have to separate into levels instead of groups, leaving 8-12 students per teacher which is much too large to get the one-on-one help they would get in a 3-4 person group of yesteryear, students write their assignments haphazardly on any random page in the spiral. This makes is difficult to correct, especially if they don't write the date with the assignment as instructed. So, I am thinking that I am going to buy them three ring binders for the last term of the year instead.

So, IB students are turning in their final draft on Friday, and the term ends next Friday. Scoring IA papers is one of the most stressful parts of teaching IB. Last year IB felt my scoring was too generous, but they didn't tell me specifically if that was true of all the papers or just specific ones, and which ones, you know? Since there are only four students testing in History this year, and only three are diploma candidates, I will probably be asked to submit all of the papers to IB. No pressure. But wasn't it nice of me to give the students almost two extra weeks to submit their IA papers after their extended essays and TOK papers were due March 1st? I'm such a nice teacher. :P Until I crush all their hopes and dreams by tearing apart their writing...One student told me she was hoping to get a 7 in her IB test. I told her that honestly it is unusual for 7's the first few years that a school teaches IB. After all, this year we have the new topics, and no sample tests from previous years to have the students practice with.

Here's your movie trivia quote for today:
"It has to hurt if it's to heal."