Saturday, November 19, 2005

Thanksgiving "Break"

Today is the first of 9 consecutive days in which I do not have to go to work. You'd think life would be grand, huh? Well, let's see about this 'not working' business.

I won't be working while I'm grading the three classes' worth of trigonometry tests I brought home.

I won't be working while I'm grading the one class of algebra quizzes I brought home. Fortunately, the quizzes from my other algebra class got graded yesterday.

I won't be working while I'm crafting up to a dozen letters of recommendation for former students.

I won't be working while I'm doing some evaluation work (at no pay, of course--it's 'professional development') for the Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

No, I get all this 'free time' off work to sit on my butt, watch Oprah, and eat bon-bons. Because that's all teachers do during these breaks, isn't it?

7 comments:

Dan Edwards said...

I've been teaching over 22 years now. So, WHY do I give my students a quiz and collect a map creation project the day before a long break from school? I know I will be grading this student work over the 'break'. You'd think I'd plan and design these things better by now. I could, but often, that is not necessarly best for my students. And I have a duty and responsibility to them. So I work on school breaks and on weekends. Like so many other teachers.

Darren, have fun with your grading. I KNOW how that is!

Wulf said...

I am exceedingly envious of the teachers who live by ScanTron. I can't do it (for several reasons), and I will be in the same situation as Darren. I can't believe how much break time I won't be working over this break.

Darren said...

I guess I *could* always find the most common mistaken answers on my trig and algebra tests and make those some of the choices for a ScanTron test.

But I'm not going to.

Joan said...

I hope you really enjoy not working over the Thanksgiving break. I certainly enjoyed not working through MANY holidays in my 22 year teaching career, so I know how relaxing these school "breaks" can be! I am enjoying reading your blog from Georgia.

Darren said...

Joan, thank you and welcome! Can I ask how you found my little corner of the internet?

Please come back periodically. You might have noticed that I dip into the political pool sometimes, but I'm trying to return the blog closer to its educational roots.

Joan said...

I read The Median Sib - another teacher's blog. I visited your site because of mention about you in that blog. Visit Carol at http://themediansib.blogspot.com and me at http://www.daddysroses.blogspot.com

I forwarded this particular post to my daughter, who is also a teacher.

Darren said...

Wow, I'd never heard of either of those blogs. I'll go check them out now. Thanks!