oh my head hurts

*WARNING BORING EDUCATIONAL THEORY FOLLOWS. There is nothing funny or conversational or slightly entertaining in this blog post just my exasperated mental vomitus. hey... it's my blog and I'll whine if I want to.*

It isn't like riding a bike; teaching I mean. Three and half years off was apparently enough of a break to hold the cheerful level for one month. Today sucked. Sometimes I am pretty sure the kids are smarter than me. At other times I wonder how the idiot standing in front of me managed to get his pants on. Oh wait --they do seem to be sagging pretty horribly...perhaps he can't generate a complete sentence because he knows we can all see his underwear. I personally would be distracted away from compositional topics if I knew the entire Halle Library could see *MY* drawers.

Today was a very frustrating experience for me. It was another day of spinning my wheels and jumping through somebody else's hoops. I am trying to maintain my respected colleague's syllabus with the dawning realization that I cannot read her mind simply by running my finger over the printed words of her handouts. This lack of understanding on my part should in no way diminish the plan said colleague laid out for the students, but I am at a loss as to how to "discuss" something we have already covered for an hour & 15 minutes. You see dear one,much of what is coming up makes more sense in my head to have been done early in the writing process. I have looked ahead in the syllabub (intentional pun there as I need a drink) to see another day spent at the library--then a week of conferences, and the assigned readings are some sample papers from past terms and really..honestly not a lot to work with--buzz words and useless page numbers. Thank the gods that Turkey Day is in the middle of this last month or my brain might implode. I have to keep her scheduled due dates because we are on that path now--but I am gonna have to dig and I mean dig deep to get at least three more class periods organized into a more efficient use of these kids' time. There is time allotted for presentations?? WWHHAATT??? why weren't these done back by the proposals when questions and discussion generated could help formulate a thesis statement. It is kinda late in the term to start questioning one's topic choice. ARRRRRGHH.

I can't just sit there and stare at them--we have to DO something. Maybe I'll teach them how to play poker for Halloween candy. That would be just as effective a time waster as going to the library en masse.