... or Bust!

Have a few spare moments (how did that happen?) so I thought I'd drum up a new post...

The last days of the semester are winding down. Goodness knows it's no surprise that I'm looking forward to this! If anything, I just need fresh faces and a new start. And a countdown to summer! As long as it has felt, it's a little awesome to realize that the year is half-over.

I've got an EOC (end of course) exam that I am administering next week for one of my classes. This is like those provincial exams that grade 12 students take in Canada. So formal! I went to a training session last week, and I've got an actual manual of things that should be done, shouldn't be done, what I have to say, and in what order I'm allowed to say it. "I will now pass out the pencils... Who doesn't have a pencil?" Gah! Here's hoping the entire exam week goes by without too much chaos and calamity.

My students -- too many of them to be impressed -- have a real liassez-faire attitude when it comes to their performance. They seem too confident that they'll be saved in the end. If their overall average is above an 85, then are exempt from the exam unless they have too many absences in my class. (I don't agree with this policy, but I can't change it.) Some are delusional to think that they can pull their grade up to this point before Friday, and their efforts do not reflect this desire. Tisk! The magic genie went back in his lamp!

To relax myself (or not!) and celebrate the half-way point, Ibeth and I have planned a quick trip to New York City for this weekend. Monday is a holiday (Martin Luther King Day), and we're catching a flight out on Friday evening. I'm really looking forward to it... I've always wanted to go back, but now I have a great excuse because Ibeth has never been! We're even meeting my good friend Steph for the day on Saturday. That is, if we can find her in the crowded Manhattan streets!

So in the next couple of days, I'll be juggling excitement and frustration as I somehow try to figure out a way to get time to speed up, my students to value their education, and everything I need for the weekend into a small carry-on bag! I'll be on a plane 48 hours from right now! :o)