Midterms

The same part of my brain that was hurting a week ago because we weren't even quite halfway through the year is shocked to realize that now we are. With reviews and exams, this week was fairly low-key.

We started out the week with the kids acting as copy-monkeys. Since our copier is down due to last week's fire, I couldn't make 150 answer keys for their review like I'd planned, so I gave them the period to copy from a class set. The good news is that we've finally (almost) mastered staying in our seats during that type of class period.

Tuesday was a super fun time with "Who Wants to be a Millionaire Scientist?" I played with 3 of my 5 classes, and they really did fairly well. The other good thing was that I was using their test questions, verbatim, so I felt like it was good preparation. Second period couldn't play because we were doing one of those extremely useless "school-wide writing prompts" where we make the kids write and give them credit for doing it. I gave them 50 points extra credit...and a bunch of them are still not passing. Anyway, much to my amazement, after they finished writing, most of the kids got up and got some things that they needed and started doing work or extra credit for my class...without me even telling them to! It was so shocking, I didn't know what to do. Fourth period didn't get to play the game because they wouldn't stop talking, and decided that instead they'd rather argue with me about how I treat them like elementary schoolers and don't know what I'm doing....while throwing paper balls at each other, and eventually at me. I hated them. I tried to explain that the reason we do things the way we do is that their book is much too difficult for them...I read them a passage from it and they didn't understand it, and it was something we've already learned. They just said how I should get them better books, since I'm the teacher. I just gave up and said, "whatever, since you don't need a teacher, do whatever you want...if you get out of your seat, I'll take 10 points off your final grade." Needless to say, they all failed their midterm because they weren't prepared.

Midterms were mostly uneventful. My first and third period classes both got over 80% class averages after the curve. Second period was surprising as one of my kids who usually does poorly on tests scored really high (I was soooo proud!). Fourth was full of failures, since they're such assholes. And sixth was decent. The most exciting thing gradewise is that my personal assistant (i.e. the kid who only likes me and will only work in my class...he stays in my room and does chores during 7th period when he's supposed to be in economics) Carl is actually going to pass my class for the semester! He had a 32% first quarter (which I had to record as a 60 because we aren't allowed to give lower than that), 72% this quarter, and got a 95 on his exam! I was excited beyond all reason.

Now, the most exciting part of the week came on Thursday at the end of the last exam. Some commotion started in the hallway and Marcus yelled "They fightin!" My kids know better than to get up and try to find out what's going on, but they were dismissed soon enough. The hallways cleared, and the police pulled the delinquents into another part of the hallway so I couldn't see who it was. Finally, I saw two police officers escorting one of my boys (who used to be a pain, but has turned around and I actually really like) out in cuffs. By escorting, I mean dragging while he kicked, screamed, and swore up a storm. I asked the gym teacher and found out that the geek squad (3 of my most annoying goober kids) had jumped him, and he beat the shit out of them, and they all got arrested. Nice job, morons.

We rounded out Thursday with talent show practice (other teachers singing RESPECT), FUBU fashion show (with the clothes that the kids brought for the holiday drive, accompanied by Tom on the bongos), and totally goofing off. Today there were only few kids at school to make up their exams (including Carl, who cleaned the secret room between Tom's room and mine), and we went out to lunch, then wasted time for the better part of the afternoon. Now comes the 3-day weekend, and some unit planning. Chemical Reactions, here we come!