Then it dawned on me that I was showing a brief video clip from iTunes and two PowerPoint presentations as part of my lesson plans for the day. Panic set in. I began thinking of ways to modify my lesson plans. Would the PowerPoint presentations or video clips add that much more value to what I can ramble off the top of my head? Not really. Still, I wanted the comfort of my school provided laptop. My desk looked lonely without it. I do need that video and the presentations. Sure, I could go without, but I thought I'd give my wife a call to see if she would bring my laptop bag down to school for me.

She was surprised to hear from me so early in the morning. She was unpleasantly surprised when I made my request of her, but she obliged, and I gave her directions to my school (it's downtown, confusing if you're unfamiliar with the territory) and she told me she would get there in a little while, which was fine because I did not need the laptop for another two hours as my first two periods of the day did not require computerized doohickeys.

Halfway through second period, my phone rang, and I ran downstairs, grabbed my laptop bag, and thanked my wife profusely for bringing it to me. I also got to see my daughter for about 30 seconds as an added bonus. They were off to Music with Mar, a music class for preschoolers. I ran back inside, got up to my classroom, and was able to setup for the rest of the day and knock out my lesson plans as written.

It's times like these that remind me of how lucky I am to have such a great support system and best friend in my wonderful wife. Without her intervention, yesterday might have been a trainwreck.

To avoid the sleepless/restless night predicted in my last post, I made myself a stiff gin and tonic before bed.  It worked.  I slept like an inebriated toddler.  No tossing, no turning, no nailbiting, no thinking, no worrying, glorious nothing.  Slept a little too well or forgot how to set my alarm, and I woke up about 30 minutes later than I targeted.  Knowing full well that this was likely to happen, I set my alarm for 30 minutes earlier than my usual waking time.  Initially, the extra 30 minutes were meant for productivity and perhaps an early arrival to school, but it looks as though I have squandered any bonus time writing this post and checking on websites of interest.  No snow day today.  Too bad.

Wish I could say that I had great lesson plans for the children today, but they will be taking quizzes originally slated for the Friday prior to break that was postponed by a snow day.  Helluva guy that I am, I'll let it be open notes to get them back in the saddle.  Bastard for giving a quiz on the first day back, one of my trademarks, but not a total bastard by coming to their aid with the option to use their notes.  This will give me time to get myself ready for the week.  I can't say that I did much planning over winter break, but I was productive in other areas of life, which I'm sure I will detail in the days to come.

I voted Tuesday.  I voted for hope and change.  I know that it will take more than one man and more than one day to heal the wounds in our country.  I know that change will be slow and hard.  If someone is sick, deathly ill, it can take years to recover.  I have faith that I picked the best candidate for the health of our country.  The overwhelming Obama victory shows America as a hopeful nation ready for change.  The skeptics paint him to be eloquent but inexperienced.  His campaign managed to make three major changes on election day. Red states turned blue.  Young people and minorities voted in record numbers.  A black man was elected president.  That's real change.  Let's hope for more.

While I was away at the convention, many other teachers called in for any number of reasons, leaving the school deficient in substitutes, forcing teachers to cover classes during their planning periods.  I left easy, bulletproof lesson plans for my replacements, but I might as well have left nothing at all.  None of my plans were followed to my satisfaction and the kids spent two days basically doing nothing.  I'm glad I spent all of that time writing those plans!  Thanks, school!  You're awesome!

Our school received a visit from the State Education department today as part of our charter renewal process. From all accounts, it appears to have gone fairly well. No state people observed me, which was somewhat maddening as I had planned up some great activities for the day. I put a little extra shine on today's lessons but they gleamed for no one but the students. Of course, they should always be the target of your lessons, but when you're getting observed by an administrator or official of any kind, you know that you have to put on a great show that day. Naturally, I put on a good show every day, but you just take it that extra step or two farther when you know you're being watched. No one came to see this poor teacher today, but the lessons were well received and the essential points closed out and driven home.

I don't mean to sound as if I do not give it my all when I know that I'm not being observed. I am not someone who is doing just enough to get through a 45 minute period. I think my lessons are engaging and well planned every day. I wrote actual lesson plans for my classes today for the first time in a year or two. Generally, I put a couple of bullet points on a sticky note and go from there. I know my content so well that I can do 45 minutes on just about anything on short notice. If you teach, you know that as soon as you write those lesson plans out that you will never follow them exactly as you have written them. Sure, they look nice and well thought out as they should, as you have put much time and effort into writing them. However, once you get started on your plans and you sense the attitudes in your classroom, you leave your plans and follow the teachable moments, move with the flow of the classroom, focus on the organic thought process happening in your kids' heads. After much experience, I've found that a few well written bullet points work just as well as a lengthy, accurately paced and timed lesson plan.

I'm going on a field trip tomorrow. I was not originally slated to attend this field trip as I am not a 10th grade level teacher, but one of the 10th grade teachers asked me if I would switch and go on the field trip in his place. I'm not sure why anyone would not want to go on a field trip. You get out of school for most of the day, have fun, see interest things, and possibly do something you've never done before. That sounds like a lot more fun than sitting on my butt and proctoring a standardized test, which is what he will be doing in my place instead of embarking on this field trip. I guess it's a win-win for us both.

Remember the compact disc? I was swooshing around my iPod dial today and I really wanted to hear a few songs that I hadn't heard in a while. I kept looking and looking, but they weren't there. In some strange lapse of judgment, I omitted a few CDs from being uploaded to my computer for further uploading onto my iPod. Well, I went into my basement today and looked amongst the thousands of plastic album caskets and found a few things that needed to go on my iPod as of tomorrow morning. Needless to say, I'm in the process of ripping those CDs onto my hard drive. There's a high-pitched whirr that feels like a hypodermic needle being drilled between my eyeballs. I think it's time to get away from the computer and watch the premiere of Heroes.