Let's Dance

The title of today's post has a double meaning, but we'll get to that in a minute. First of all, happy Monday! I hope your day has been ... more productive than mine. 

First of all, as of 1:30pm today, I am F-R-E-E from the STAAR. For the rest of this year, anyway. I can't tell you how much relief I feel right now. My shoulders have relaxed, and it's out of my hands now, as silly as that sounds. And while I'm not so sure I believed my students when they told me "it was so easy," I had a huge smile on my face when some of them walked in, high-fived me, and assured me that they passed. Sitting through a five-hour reading and writing test is no easy feat, and I am so incredibly proud of them. The rest of the day was utter chaos, but I didn't even have it in me to settle them down. Hey, they deserve it! And I'm proud of myself for actively monitoring like a champ. The way Bellaire does their scheduling is pretty great, as we monitor in shifts, but those three hours that I was monitoring were brutal. I walked up and down and back and forth and literally read through this entire handbook cover to cover, because I just needed something to do.

I'm monitoring again on Wednesday for the English II STAAR, but something tells me I'm not going to be having any monitoring nightmares before this one, like I did the other night. I dreamt that I had my 7th period all in one classroom (say it ain't so), and that I had to void three tests due to one student being in possession of a cell phone, and two others sharing answers. I'm very glad that I didn't have any of my students in the room that I monitored, as I am sure I would have been hovering over said student's shoulder the entire time. Just kidding, but it was best that I was not in any of their classrooms.

So, here's to two months of a little bit of fun - persuasive techniques and Romeo and Juliet, and NOT writing expository essays and short answer responses for a while. I'll raise my glass to that!

March Madness

I went to bed on Friday night having six teams out of eight left in my bracket. I could have had three of the final four. But both Notre Dame and Arizona lost on Saturday, leaving me with Duke as my saving grace. I will admit that I was feeling nervous for the Duke-Gonzaga game, because while you can never count out Duke, they've also been known to fall apart at the worst moments. Though, I've said from the beginning that they would either lose in round two, or they'd bring home another championship under Coach K. And I'm holding onto the latter part of that statement.

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Because the Duke Blue Devils are going back to the Final Four for the 16th time, and what's better is that this young team is led by Houston native, Justice Winslow. And while I would have loved to be at the game, as it took place in my own backyard, I had just as much fun watching it from the comfort of my own home. Because when things started getting close, I left to go run a quick school errand, and then came home to find that they had regained the lead. And while I was more than happy to see Michigan State make the Final Four, these Spartans are going down on Saturday night.

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Have a great rest of your Monday - I know I will!