March Break

I wrote this March Break, but for some reason it didn't get posted....weird.

I love March Break! I have a stack of work to do for school, but I decided (after a lot of encouragement from Rich) to not do most of it. I have some marking to do, and I can put a lot of that off until after the break, but I have to do some prep for next week. Luckily, I have a meeting outside the school on Thursday, and Good Friday is Friday, so I'm only actually in the classroom for 3 days next week which is cool. It means I have to be a lot more prepared because of my day away, but then I should have a relaxing Easter I hope!

Most of the break has been spent with family, friends, and my cross stitch! I bought one in Disney when we were there for our honeymoon. We chose it together and wanted to make it into a pillow or something. It's Mickey and Minnie sitting on a bench looking at a sunset with Pluto at their feet and it's the backs of them. It's pretty intense actually - a kazillion types of red for shading and things like that. The last 3 days I've plopped myself in front of the tv, popped in some Family Ties (a much heavier sitcom than I remember) and I needlepointed it up! It's been lovely! Today I'm off to visit a friend, do some work and then off to band tonight. We had a death in the family last week, and as sad a time as it was, it was wonderful to reconnect with some family I haven't seen in years.

So I've learned to love teenagers and their quirky ways lately. Yes it's frustrating when they only listen to half of your lesson, but at other times it's hilarious. The week before the break I was hauled in to the VP's office and asked what I taught in Civics the previous day. I explained I'd covered the Canadian Constitution, the Rights and Responsibilities of citizens, examples of violations of that both within school and outside of school. There was one example of a student suspected of having drugs, and the Principal had asked the student to empty their pockets. We discussed how this could be a violation of certain rights - Freedom of unreasonable search and seizure. We also discussed how the education act sort of circumvents all that, and how any suspicion on behalf of the admin basically makes a fully legal search. School safety is above all. Anyway the kids seemed to understand, however when I was talking to the VP she expressed that someone did not.

Apparently, a student of mine was suspected of passing drugs in an earlier class. He wasn't, but they thought he was, so he was taken to the office. The VP told him to empty his pockets and he responded "no". He was almost suspended for refusing, but he stood there and said "Mrs. Robinson says I don't have to....it's violating my rights and freedoms". I burst out laughing when she told me. I was half proud of him for remembering some of the lesson, but also found it funny he remembered the part that benefited him most.

I didn't get in trouble, but was asked to reiterate that part of the lesson just to be sure they all understood.

I love my job! For all those who gives teachers a hard time for all their time off, if you really add up the hours most of them work, most work the equivalent to a 40 hour work week all year long, with all the home work necessary - marking, prep, all that stuff. It definitely gets easier as you go, but in your first 5 years, you work far more than 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year. Most weeks I put in 70 hours or so. I am not complaining at all - I truly love my job, and it's worth it. I do love the breaks though!

Hope everyone who is enjoying March Break is having as great a week as I am!

Back to prep!