Final Final Finals

Tomorrow is high school final day. That means the last day of regular classes was today, and everyone in the school is happy about it but me. I still have two months of work left on the yearbook, and if history repeats itself, three or four.

Waa Waa, poor me. There, the pity party is over. Hell, who am I kidding? That's what this blog is all about.

The photojournalism kids started presenting their finals today, and they were good -- but the first few who volunteer to go always are. They make photo essays and present them orally using the projector and Adobe Bridge. It's slick -- unless the technology craps out, which is frequent. Like today after school the entire network went down and I couldn't burn the rest of the students' discs. Hope it's up by tomorrow, or else it's Plan B, which I have yet to pull out of my ass.

They have been instructed to put only their top pictures in the folder called "Final Final." Most of them do this, except for the stupid heads who can't follow instructions or read an assignment sheet. That's one of my big pet peeves -- because I so thoroughly give these instructions and utilize all brain styles that it irks me when a student just plain doesn't listen. Like I'm speaking like an adult in the Peanuts' movies: Whaw whaw whaw whaw whaw.

Oh well, the curse of most teachers, I'd assume. I've been told that you should only give students directions ONCE to train them to learn. I just whine when they ask me questions I went over and direct them to their clearly labeled assignment sheet of assorted colors.

So, I wish this was my Final Finals week, but I've signed up for another year. It could be worse: I could be back in 'da Hood. I'll have to have flashbacks to my alternative education years.

Ahhh, those were the days -- when I taught at the roughest school in the Midwest, with the best staff on the planet.

Now I'm in whitey white land with some of the smartest kids I've ever known. And I'm happy.

Until the man messes with me again.