Still Dancing It's the last week of school. Every other district in the county (OK, every other district) is out for the summer by now. We have final exams and for me, grading advanced junior exams (four essays each), it is somewhat torturous. I'm sure the kids feel that way too.

It was a tough year. The state test pressure hit us hard, and even though the scores are in, the higher-ups are being remarkably cagey about whether any of that time and curriculum-sacrifice did us any good. It seems that most of the students who live in district but attend special schools have failed the exam, and their scores count against us, even though they don't attend our school. We may well be on the watch list yet again.

I'm still trying to decide whether to cave and add extra points to the quarter grades of my students who did well on the state test, as I've been instructed to do. I think it's gross, but it may not be a battle I have the energy for right now.

I got some really nice letters from my students this year. It helps when I'm questioning my choice to work in this building, in this profession. It was a tough year.

All of it gets put into perspective when I think about floods, ethanol and Mugabe, among all the rest. I'm tired.

By some whim I wandered over to YouTube today and stumbled across this. I think it's an updated version, but it doesn't much matter-- it still makes me cry, it still makes me feel jealous, it still makes me feel good.

  ¶ 6:39 PM