Totally Not My Calling

WARNING: Not entirely cohesive. Lacks organization and structure. After 36 hours and counting chaperoning four giggly junior high girls, my contract entitles me to a certain amount of unregulated insanity in the form of disjointed blogging.

I am most certainly not cut out to be a junior high teacher. I normally teach elementary (primary mostly) and one random high school elective (which also happens to be speech, but for high school students), and my instinct was correct... elementary and high school are just fine but I'm certainly not meant to teach the darlings who fall between the two ages. I've spent all day yesterday, all night last night, all day today, and will spend tonight and tomorrow morning with a group of four junior high students for the district speech conetst (so far I've coached every extra-curricular we've offered... which has been cross country and speech).

Oh, to teach in a place where going to an extra-curricular event doesn't involve plane rides and nights spent on a stranger's classroom floor. Next thing you know I'll be wishing for a house with a flush toilet. Eh, I jokes (to use the local vernacular). Sure, having a road that connected our village to another would be convenient. But would it really be as interesting? Would my life be as entertaining if I didn't have daily discussions with Roomie about the contents of our honey bucket and whether it needs to be emptied and whose turn it is?

My students are wonderful and have been well-behaved. But they are also junior high students, which says a lot in and of itself. Oh, let me tell you about the drama of who likes who and who is dating who and who asked out whom and who will give whom an answer in January. And the "can we go shopping?" constantly. You'd think that our travel request form said "shopping trip" rather than "speech contest." They actually got upset when I said no to their request to go shopping instead of watching the finals. I know, the sheer audacity. How could I?

If asked to repeat a time in my life, I certainly wouldn't pick junior high. I'm not sure I'd want to repeat any of my life. I mean, it was OK the first time around, and I guess I turned out just fine. Assuming I couldn't change anything, what fun would repeating the same mistakes all over again be? And if I didn't make any dumb mistakes, wouldn't that take all the mystery out of it? Kinda like reading a good book for the second time... enjoyable, but not the same rush you get the first time around.

I just really want to be back at my house, sleeping in my bed instead of on the floor of a high school classroom. Cooking my own meals rather than eating an endless barrage of school food and pizza. Not having the opportunity to spend my hard-earned money on stuff I really don't need. Having to wonder whether my sub could make any sense of my lesson plans. Yargh. One advantage to a Bethel trip... produce. Yeah, it's hella-expensive compared to the lower 48, but I got AVOCADOS (!) and onions. Had to get stuff that doesn't need to be refrigerated because we had to just stash all our stuff in the lobby of the district office during school hours today. But AVOCADOS! JUST THINK!

Congratulations to my youngest (Can't say littlest anymore because she has long since passed up the middle sibling and is my height if not a wee bit taller) sister, who set a personal best time in the 50 Freestyle, meeting a goal time, and also acheived the distinction of having competed in every event on the line-up this season.

That is all. It's midnight and I think all four are finally asleep. Carry on. I will *sniff* sleep here on this hard floor.