Instantaneous Communication

Good morning. It’s nice and wet outside. Inside I’ve managed to make hot chocolate, wash the leftover dishes from last night (but not those from making hot chocolate), fold two loads of laundry (which Cedric already put away [they were mostly his]), and correct Seth and Joseph’s papers from yesterday that I didn’t get to yesterday. I also managed to wake up a few minutes before 4:00 to use the bathroom and wasn’t able to go back to sleep quickly enough so rather than lay there thinking about things I need to do today, I decided to actually get up and start on them. There is a load of sheets in the drier and a load of darks in the washer. The fun just has no end.

This is what the sunrise looked like on the 23rd. It was very pretty.

There are some things I like about the instantaneous communication of today and some things I do not like. I got an email last week from Cedric’s science teacher asking about a project. I knew he’d worked on it but had no idea why he had not turned it in. One day he said the room was rearranged and he couldn’t find the bin it should have gone in and the next day he just forgot. I knew he had it, because I looked through his back pack, and I mentioned this when I responded to the email. This morning I read another email she sent yesterday. This time she was asking if I’d seen another assignment when I went looking and no, I did not. He really had no response when I asked him about that this morning so he gets to work on it today after school unless he finishes during flex block of some other time during school.

This is what Joseph and Maddie looked like on the 23rd. Aren't they just the cutest little uncle and niece?

I also got an email from Amena’s English teacher. They are reading The Crucible and had a quiz. The email was a rather generic one and a mass-send to all the parents of students who got less than 70 on a quiz. Personal emails I don’t mind from teachers because I know that they are actually aware of my student and have a concern or something specific to say. When I get mass mailings, I have no such feeling and I’m not a huge fan of them. Especially when I hear from my student that only ten people in the class of over twenty scored over 70. Amena doesn’t like the way this particular teacher grades things and I have to say that grading in high school should be fairly uniform, especially within a school. Amena also said that there was another high school English teacher who was well-liked by students (I think that says a lot for any teacher, personally) but her teacher went to the administration and the other teacher ended up getting fired. Granted, this is what she heard from another (now graduated) student, but with the way the world is today, I believe it is very possible. Quite likely, even.

Just another view of that awesome sunrise since we didn't get to see one this morning.

To this email from the English teacher I have not responded. There are so many things I could say, so many directions I could go. If more than half the students did not do well on a quiz, is it possible that there is something deficient in how the material is being presented or taught? Given that Amena also reports that there is an attention-never-brought-to-board on the side wall of the classroom which at least occasionally has information that might be found useful by students, I think this is likely.

And just another view of these two because I don't know how anyone can get enough. Please note that I did not post this to either Instagram or specifically to Facebook.

Never having been to this classroom and never having met this particular teacher, there is a lot I do not know. I do know my child, though. I hope that no teacher ever thinks that I will take the side of the teacher over my own child just because the teacher is the teacher or is an adult. I also hope that no child of mine ever thinks that I will take the side of my child simply because my child is my child. There are always two sides to the story. That all said, based on what I do know, I have my thoughts and opinions in this particular case.

In other news, I looked at the clock at 7:09 and realized I needed to go milk. Once I got out to the barn, I realized I needed to take care of the grain before I could milk since I neglected to do it yesterday. In other words, it wasn’t a ten-minute operation; it was a twenty-minute operation.

Cedric has a cross country meet this afternoon unless it is deemed to be too wet. Then I’m not sure if he’ll have practice or not. We will have to wait and see. As of right now, it is still on. The weather is supposed to clear up, or at least the rain is supposed to stop. Weather reports are only so reliable, though.

Seth and Joseph have school stuff to do. I have school stuff to do but no appointments and other than going to watch/pick Cedric up and take Amena to and from work, no reason to go out and about. I’d love to go out for a field trip but I’d really love for it to be a hiking field trip and I’m not sure I really want to do that until this cold/cough is gone.

Unless I write a very short blurb next time, this will be it for this 100 pages as I’m on page 100 of 100 and word 64,033. Not that the number of words has much to do with anything.

And that’s about it for now. I hope you have a fantabulous day!