Merry Go Round

Just when I thought I was starting to whine too much about not having my permanent room and not having AC in the room I'm in, my kids begin to whine. The novelty of having to move to the theater to teach classes (because it's cooler there) is wearing off. It's like "oh great, we're going to the theater again." Big flippin' deal.

That being said, we did a bit more moving again this week. There's no way I can show a video in the theater (which sounds stupid now that I write that, I mean, it is a theater after all) beause there isn't a spare teachers station (TV/VCR, etc) to use and the kids would be sitting too far away to see the screen anyway. So, I went to The Librarian and asked if I could use a TV set up in her reference room which is still waiting for the new furniture to arrive and basically consists of boxes, a big piece of floor (with new carpet) and the TV set up. She set the whole thing up, provided me with a chair and a rolling cart for a desk, and I spent five periods walking the kids over, having them plop on the floor and watching a very cool video on matter and physical properties of matter. The kids enjoyed that even though I had one that claimed he couldn't sit on the floor. Considering that he seems to have trouble sitting in a chair, that didn't surprise.

On Thursday we needed to do a lab and my best friend (and fellow 7th science teacher) Mrs. Eagle loaned us her room. Basically we just walked our kids past each other, she used the theater, and I used her room, set up for the lab. We did a density lab which basically consists of the kdis FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS (interesting concept, that) and pouring different liquids into graduated cylinders and watching them separate. The fact that we were in a "real" classroom and one that had classroom pets, Watson the hamser and Keiko the ball python, was enough to make them crazy. Of course they all wanted to obsess about the animals but once I got them going on the lab, they were okay.

Well...most of them.

There's always at least one group of kids that seem to think that you don't need to read the directions, you just start doing stuff, and you've got a lab. These are the sort of kids that a science teacher fears because they're the ones that will set fire to your lab when you least expect it.

Which is why I rarely do any lab that involves anything remotely flammable.

In any case, some of them did great, some of them didn't have a clue, but we all made it out with no broken equipment, no spilled liquids, and at least one lab paper turned in per group.That in itself is an accomplishment.

No news on our room situation. Soonest the new wing will be ready to move in is after Labor Day.

Yeah. Right.