On the job training!!!!

I got an unexpected day off for my birthday! On the anniversary of the day I was born, October 31st (yes, I was born on Halloween), I was doing my meditation before our morning prayer together when the lights flickered a few times and then went out. They stayed out for more than 6 hours! Our part of the grid, a three-street-wide area, was totally blacked out. Until the sun rose, it was awfully dark in the house. It was a very relaxing, pleasant day for me, as you can imagine! Ironically, this was the third time I had an unplanned (and unexpected) day off for my birthday. The last two years, when I was teaching in New Hampshire, I had my birthday off due to two hurricanes, Irene and Sandy. I can't wait to see what happens next year!

Well, the end of the first marking period came, and I experienced the first report card/conferences time at St. Michael's. Like many other aspects of the place, it involves technology and software. Also, I did not work alone on the grades; I teach with two other teachers and got input from the gym teacher, too. It was an interesting time of discovery, to put a positive spin on it. To put it another way, what just happened to me?!? The most irksome part of it was how we made personal comments about the students. Each comment has a number, and that number is entered into the computer program that we use to keep and to tabulate their grades. So for 90 students (3 classes of 30) I needed to make at least one comment. It took hours! I felt like I was playing Bingo, except for the fact that I usually like that game.

There was a bump in the road; after the report cards went out, I realized that I wasn't using the grading technology in the most effective way. I wasn't using it wrong, for the most part, but it was different than the way others are using it, and it caused some confusion. I had to put out a few fires, but that seems to be behind me. (Knock on wood!) It turns out that there were functions that I didn't know about with the software, and not knowing a thing about them made it hard to ask about them. But I got a tutorial on those functions and going forward will be much better about using it. Really, I took to the grading system pretty well for my first year ever working with it. Last year I used a grade book and a calculator and wrote in my own comments! The other teachers and the principal were very supportive about the whole thing.

After that, we scheduled parent conferences. We only met with our homerooms, which meant that I talked to 30, not 90. Thank heaven for small favors, though a few parents from other classes wanted to talk, too. I have mostly good students and mostly receptive parents, so the conferences went well. We had the conferences into the night Wednesday after school and then Thursday during the day. We got Friday off, which four of us sisters used to get ready for a weekend away. Two younger sisters and two mentors are going to Oconomowoc, Wisconsin for a weekend of fellowship and instruction. We fly back on Sunday. It should be a nice event; I always like getting together with the other younger sisters. It's a lot coming on the heels of this crazy report card stuff, but once I get there and settle down, I'm sure I'll enjoy it.