Phooey!

I can't bemoan the fact that other people aren't updating their blogs (*cough* Lisa), when I haven't written anything in September, and it's halfway through the month. Beginning of the school year is always crazy busy. Next week will be the worst - BUT - thanks to Jimmer, yes Jimmer, for having an NBA event at BYU next week, NHS inductions got moved a week. Yay! Orginally, it was scheduled the day after PT conferences, which is a really long 12 hour day - it's exhausting physically and emotionally to interact with that many people at once. I still remember one year when parents were complaining because the line to talk to me was 30 minutes long. Yikes. It hasn't been that bad since I took over ESL, because I have fewer students than before. However, teaching the GT 8th graders means a lot more parent questions and concerns, and they want things like a list of all the due dates for the whole year. Aack! I am still refining the curriculum of that course! It's not like we have a textbook or anything for them. One parent was really upset about the lack of a textbook on Back to School Night. I even had one 8th grade parent questioning my credentials to teach History if I teach ESL. Hello! History was my MAJOR! Did you know I teach the IB History class - the awesomest IB class in the school?!? Okay, I didn't really say that to them. I said something more professional and patient-like.

Meanwhile I was recommended to attend the CITES conference training this year - which is a big honor, and if I turned it down, I would probably never be invited again. Some teachers wait their whole careers without getting to go to these conferences. That does mean that I will miss 10 days of class this year for these conferences. I hate having substitutes, and I hate the state my room is in when I get back. BUT, I do get stay in a hotel in Park City...and I have reading homework for the conferences, 7 books in all. Oh, and this Saturday is an IB conference in SLC. Next month is a 4 day IB conference...somewhere, they haven't decided where yet. Poor Werty, while I am off having work related trips, he is stuck at home. And when I am home, I am often working or sleeping. I am supposed to be taking classes starting in November for the GT endorsement cohort, which means more time away from home and more homework to do. I don't know if I can really swing all of that. The GT classes might have to give way. Phooey.