Happy Heart Day

Valentine's Dance last night, followed by teachers night out...Tsarina is hurting today. The DJ didn't show up for the dance, so one of the teachers got her computer and another DJ'd- funny thing is that the music was much better than what the "professional" DJ played at the last dance. I got stuck at the coat check for an hour (*note to self- never agree to help out for "a couple of minutes"*) It's so strange to see the kids looking so grown up; the girls were all in formal wear, and the guys all looked like rappers. Two of my kids, Carl and Shay, were fixed up- she asked me about him in class, because they didn't know each other. I had really high hopes for this, as they're both really great kids (actually, he's a cutie, and I know his dad is single- been trying to get him in all year ;) I never even saw them talking to each other...*sigh* the drama of 8th grade dances! BTW, I don't think that there has ever been a hotter song than Candy Shop by 50 Cent--- all I can say is, "DAMN"! It's like sex in CD form.

C is suspended, and his mom is talking about home-schooling him. It seems Mom is sick and tired of Crusty writing him referrals. If I liked Crusty, I would almost have felt bad for her as his mom ripped her a new one. I was very pleased that his mom stood up for him the way she did; many parents meet Crusty, and she's sooooo calm and collected that they assume she's right and their kids are wrong. I'm glad his mom saw through the phony facade. Oh, the reason for C's recent outbursts? It seems that his sister died 2 years ago this past week, and his mom said that the last time he had seen her was at Christmas. She said they were very close, and that he always has problems between Xmas and now. When I told the other teachers that, Crusty said, "I know, he wrote about it in his journal"...well, then, when I was going crazy trying to figure out what was wrong, why the fuck didn't she say something? I'll tell you why...she hates the fact that he likes my class more than hers and is usually good for me. Normally, when I know that a student has found a teacher that they connect with, I'm really happy about it. However, there are many teachers who feel threatened and jealous of that. It's unfortunate that these kids, who are trying to learn how to be adults, are learning from people like that...bitch. I know he requires a lot of attention, but I really miss C when he's not in class.

We're putting the bug in our principal's ear about the team we want next year- all teachers who are like myself- they ENJOY the more challenging students. We've been talking to him about giving us small classes of the "hardcore" kids and letting us see what we can do. Honestly, I think that this would be an amazing group; I respect and like all of them, and while we don't always agree, we respect each other enough to listen. They were all in the group that went out last night- geez, it was fun! I'd like to move down there so that I could actually do something once in a while...well, I guess I should wait and see if I'm offered a job for next year before I get my hopes up too much.

I'm going to go plan for the week (and take plenty of Tylenol and juice). I hope you all have a great Valentine's Day...get lucky once for me!