Can I Have My Cell Phone Back?

Well, the district made a recommendation to make up the days we missed for our "hurrication". We will make up 3 of the 7 instructional days the students missed. We lose three long weekends - Jan 19, Feb 16 and April 13. The Feb and April days will be instructional days with the kids. The January day was a holiday and they are now making it an inservice day. If you have 7 hours of professional development then you can earn the day off though.

January 5 was to be an inservice day also, but now it is the third instructional day the kids will make up. That is the day we come back from the Christmas (err Winter) Break. That means we don't have a day before the kids to make sure the room is set up etc. Over break the custodians usually clean the floors in the science rooms, so they move out all of our tables, chairs and anything on the floor. Needless to say, it is not always put back the same way we left it and all of our AV equipment in the room is also put up for the floor cleaning. So we use that day to get the room back in order and also to plan the first week. Can't do that now. They did the same when we missed days for Hurricane Rita (3 years ago). Grrr! :-#

Not much else is going on right now, though. We have someone lined up to replace the fence and hopefully that will be done soon. The last of the Ike debris finally got picked up! The stack of fence sections had been sitting on the front walk for 2 weeks. They got picked up today, so now we look like we never went through a hurricane, except that some of our driveway fence is missing.

The students are finally settling back into a routine after the hurrication, too. After 26 years of teaching, I still shake my head at "the things my students do/say"! Here is the latest one to give you a little chuckle!

Students are supposed to have their cell phones turned OFF during the school day. Not on vibrate or silent - OFF. If it is taken up, teachers turn it in to the office and parents have to come get it and pay a fine of $15. They will not give the phone back to a student. The other day a student walked up to me during class with his cell phone in his hand. It was lit/blinking indicating it had most likely just gone off. He asks to go to the bathroom. I say no and ask him to give me his cell phone. He hands it to me and then pulls some money out of his pocket. Offering me the money he says "Here's the $15, can I have my phone back now?" Resisting the urge to laugh out loud and tell him that I might consider it for $30, I tell him no, his parents need to pay the fine and get it from the AP. He then shrugs, turns to go back to his seat, telling me that his teacher last year took the money. Oh geesh! I don't want to know!!!

Chris played in his first football game this season. I will get photos edited and posted soon.

Not much else new, as I said. Life resumes its normal rhythm!

Adios!