Midterms - Semester II

Well, the last couple of weeks have been rough. The next one will also be rough, but then I'll settle into something regular. Last week I did indeed have my 15-hour day on Monday. The music ensembles recorded some pieces for our CD (released on Tuesday at our first of two spring concerts). Anyone who has recorded music before will know that takes a long time, and can be very stressful. I expected a far more heinous evening, but things actually went rather smoothly. Of course, even with things being smooth, that meant I was there until 11:30pm. Oh, and as per usual Tuesdays, the next morning I had to be in at 7:30am. I don't know why I even left the school!

This week began with the end of term 1 (that being the halfway point in the semester). My careers class ended, and I got a new batch of students. Midterm report cards were also due on Thursday. Last weekend (good thing it was a long weekend!) I had 30 career final portfolios to mark and 65 math quizzes. When I got back on Tuesday, I had 65 math tests to mark. After all that marking, I was finally able to calculate the midterm marks so that on Wednesday I could do my 95 report cards. It was swell. Plus, all of this chaos occurred while I was starting a new class for careers (teachers know about that "start of the year/semester" insanity. You're rushing to get all of the initial tasks done, but also bringing your "A-game" to each class in order to lock the students in. It's this week that you win 'em or lose 'em. And if you expect any of them to take you seriously, you had better set strict rules straight away and not waver).

I'm so glad all of it is behind me, now. This is the first weekend I haven't had any marking in ages.

Next week will see our double spring concerts: junior ensembles on Tuesday night and senior ensembles on Thursday night. Once these are over, most of my extra-curricular commitments are finished and I'll be freer than I have been all year! I'm going to love May and June.