Re-slump

Okay, so maybe I'm not done with the January slump.

I'm getting really, really frustrated with a couple of extra special personalities. I'm getting tired of fighting the same battles over and over again, with no new results.

The good news is that I completely rebuilt a disastrous relationship on Friday. Of course, this is not too difficult with 7th graders, because their deep-seated feeling change 100% every 11 minutes (or something like that - Mom knows). I am proud of myself, though, and proud of her, because while I distract her with "Nice job" and "You're a rockstar today", she's actually learning science.

My week kind of ended on a rough note, which is why I was so frustrated leaving on Friday. Usually on half days, there is one class period after lunch. However, on Friday, the schedule was modified so that lunch was last (to account for lower middle school activities). Students went to check-out first, got their jackets and cell phones, and then had lunch. This makes lunch detention extra fun. When an entire roomful of 7th graders, with no work to do, ready to go home on a half day, decide that they're done cooperating, it's a challenge to keep them together. It was a challenge. I left cranky. This is unfortunate, because the rest of the day had been great.

Yesterday, I had a good day of classes, but the most fun moment was when our office manager had an Excel conundrum. I spent about an hour (okay, I should have been planning) working through a programming solution (Excel doesn't allow for elseif, but instead nested ifs. There were a lot of nested ifs). It was a lot of fun, and I felt pretty proud of myself. I love solving puzzles!

Today, I came in and was reminded why I love this place and why I love this job. This morning was our school-wide poetry slam finals. Five 7th- and 8th-graders stood up in front of their peers and bared their souls. I was equally impressed with the poetry, performances, and peer responses. The winner will have their poem published in the high school literary magazine. It was awesome.

Another reason I love this school is that the history class is currently acting out a trial of Hernan Cortes. Students have been studying Spanish colonization of the Americas, and also courtroom procedure. Students were given the opportunity to dress up for the trials (especially the "attorneys"). Several students came in today and yesterday in suits or other professional wear, and looked like small grown-ups! I'd hire them. I love how they jump at an opportunity to dress up like small professionals.

I got some solid training in this weekend. Immediately after school Friday, I went for a short (30 min) swim, and then an awesome 2-mile run. My foot was feeling great, so I took it out on Sunday for 2.5 miles (with a couple of walking breaks, of course). It is cold. It is very cold. But, I hate the treadmill more than the cold, so I suffered some windburn for the cause. I also took a 1-hour bike ride (which I can do indoors, because I can more easily entertain myself than on a treadmill). That gives me a total of 3 hours of training for the week (plus another 30 minutes or so of core/strength in the mornings), which is not a bad place to be in January. If I increase training by one hour every month, I'll be in a good place this summer.
weekend training.