When we grew up & went to school there were certain teachers who would hurt the students any way they could by pouring their derision upon everything we did, exposing every secret no matter how carefully hidden by the kids.
But in the town it was well known when they got home at night their fat psychopathic wives would thrash them within inches of their lives...
I've been singing that song all week. Ah, to be a teacher in the post Pink Floyd era.
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La Belle Dame Avec Merci came in to see me today. She spent some time talking to SuperTeacher, some time talking to me, and then she left. I went upstairs to offer some lunchtime help, only to be greeted with a story of the "he was throwing erasers at him" variety. I didn't see the throwing, and they certainly didn't seem to be fighting now, but could I ignore the tale-teller? I went down to the staff room to ask SuperTeacher for advice. And suddenly, without warning, she became pure evil.
I will spare you her exact words, although they are branded on my memory in indelible mental ink. Suffice it say that she rebuffed me with so much venom that I almost started to cry on my way back to the classroom. I didn't, thank God. (I'm still holding steady at one crying spell so far.)
She scares me sometimes. Not because she gets angry - my parents get angry at me all the time. Not because she made me upset - many people make me upset to the point of tears. No, she scares me because I can never tell when she'll go furious. All I can think is that La Belle said something that put SuperTeacher into a temper. Maybe, God forbid, it was something positive about me.
Other than that, I had a pretty good day today. I was lazy with my planning last night, meaning that things today were not as fabulous as they have been every other day this week. But it was not a Lord of the Flies scene - far from it, actually. They worked hard, they listened hard and they got much done. But I could tell the difference from the days on which I have really good stuff planned because they took my energy instead of giving me their energy. This is why teaching is exhausting; sometimes you're supplying the energy and drive for 30-odd kids in 40-minute intervals.
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Tonight the Boy is home and we shall celebrate by stuffing ourselves with fresh chicken. Tomorrow is a fast day. I predict a lot lying about on couches.
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3 years ago today: "are you always this self-deprecating?"
