the wierdness of a "day off" midweek

so this week was all wonked out (yes, wonked is a technical term) with having a shortened sunday thanks to the PSAT administration. because of that, none of my classes got a damn thing done. then thursday was a "teacher work day" which loosely translates to mean that the kids deserve a day off, but we have to show up to get paid. what this means is that when everyone comes back on friday, no one wants to do a damn thing (much like wednesday), so all my classes are behind, i don't know what day of the week it is, and i just want more sleep. gracious i love saturdays.

getting my ass kicked (figuratively)

one is astounded at how much energy is expended in the teaching process. i do not know what i do that saps me of all my energy...i stand, and walk and talk, and then i sit and i grade and type...that is it....seriously. yet every day, i come home, and can barely stand long enough to cook dinner. how do real people cope with this? how do teachers go for years and still have the energy? and how do i remain positive for my students?

I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO BE THAT HAPPY AND ENTHUSIASTIC FOR THAT LONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IT IS NOT NATURAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

today was a teacher work day, aka, kids are off, teachers aren't...i was more tired after getting home today and i did what felt like a comparitve zero next to the other days of the week. i think i need to work on getting my act together... this is going to have to get better sooner or later

laziness versus stupidity?

so i am grading exams i just gave to my classes on a topic that i am required to teach out of what i would consider to be an appropriate order. now, i gave them what i would consider as much help as possible...let them take the test over two days, gave them formulas that they need to help as they took the test, gave them hints, and i am giving partial credit for showing work on a multiple choice test...and yet somehow there is just a great dispairity in the test scores...it is painfully aparent those students who either got it, or worked to study after seeing the test. in one class my range of scores is 30 out of 100 to 99 out of 100. is it my fault? did i not teach them? or is it a matter of them not trying? do i need to do something more? or are they just totally unintelligent? am i asking too much of "average" teens?