Update on the math exam...
I called the school and spoke to the head of studies. Whatever. The man can talk and talk...seemingly forgetting that people have to go to work in the morning.
I didn't leave reassured. There is a fair chance that Eldest may get three different teachers next term too...in reverse order...as the sub gets better and returns, and then the incomprehensible one from Lleida returns....I think they are defending the rights of the teachers over the rights of the kids. The sub with the broken leg is a SUB, why should he have the right to come back. Then again, listen to what happened today. Maybe they want him back.
Seems that Eldest was supposed to have the full hour for the test - whether because I phoned or not, I don't know....recess and then the first half hour of the subsequent class; but get this, the five kids showed up to do the test, and the teacher didn't. They went to the office to have him paged...didn't respond. They went to the teacher's lounge, wasn't there. Finally another teacher started to get them in trouble for being in the hallways during recess, they explained, and he said the test will be Friday.
Honestly.
The good side is that we have till Friday.
Can you imagine? The term professionalism doesn't exactly spring to mind.
On a less totally bizarre note...I managed to use subjuntives SPONTANEOUSLY twice yesterday!!!!!
PROGRESS!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
A rant is better than a whine.
OK. I am going to draw, quarter, spit and burn that math teacher. This morning he bumped the math retake exam (remember that pass/fail the whole term jobbie?) to TOMORROW. Half a day's notice. Two days less to study. Then he decided that he is going to give them only half an hour to do it rather than the full hour they NEED for a three page exam.
I phoned the school. I am going in tomorrow morning as well, with youngest, poor thing, and I will be terribly late for my Catalan - if I make it. Which is the second point of despair/rage at the moment.
3. Not being able to study for Catalan
4. Cleaning.
5. The man's work hasn't come up with the double payment for the month yet....normally it is sent on the first or the 15th....
6. Eldest has developed a weird and painful swelling in a toe.
7. Youngest is being harassed by the boys in her class, the teacher doesn't believe her when she complains and the boys say she is lying, so the teacher doesn't stop it, then she gets in trouble for kicking them, and has to pick up all the garbage they have thrown at her. Must write a note for that tomorrow.
8. There is a leak in the roof in youngest's room. Very small, but I forsee jackhammers.
9 The phone still doesn't work properly
10. I have NO time.
11. The dog has to go back to the vet for a cut he has.
12. The usual chores that appear at this time of year.
13. The school sent home a note about all the times for the upcoming events; it included the dates and no times. In my already overcrowded schedule, and diminishing mental abilities I have to now go into the school, ask what the times are and write them down. Make a decent note, boys and girls.
14. I am annoyed that something so small would annoy me.
15. I grind my teeth in my sleep.
16. The keyboard on this computer sucks, and letters just don't appear and the space bar doesn't function properly...plus the internet cord keeps slipping out, and the other computer has to get the power cord replaced. It has gotten all sensitive. Put that on the list too.
17. I NEED this vacation
18 now
Can I get off now? I think I'm done.
And take that math teacher with me? Oooooooooh, what I would like to do to that one......
I phoned the school. I am going in tomorrow morning as well, with youngest, poor thing, and I will be terribly late for my Catalan - if I make it. Which is the second point of despair/rage at the moment.
3. Not being able to study for Catalan
4. Cleaning.
5. The man's work hasn't come up with the double payment for the month yet....normally it is sent on the first or the 15th....
6. Eldest has developed a weird and painful swelling in a toe.
7. Youngest is being harassed by the boys in her class, the teacher doesn't believe her when she complains and the boys say she is lying, so the teacher doesn't stop it, then she gets in trouble for kicking them, and has to pick up all the garbage they have thrown at her. Must write a note for that tomorrow.
8. There is a leak in the roof in youngest's room. Very small, but I forsee jackhammers.
9 The phone still doesn't work properly
10. I have NO time.
11. The dog has to go back to the vet for a cut he has.
12. The usual chores that appear at this time of year.
13. The school sent home a note about all the times for the upcoming events; it included the dates and no times. In my already overcrowded schedule, and diminishing mental abilities I have to now go into the school, ask what the times are and write them down. Make a decent note, boys and girls.
14. I am annoyed that something so small would annoy me.
15. I grind my teeth in my sleep.
16. The keyboard on this computer sucks, and letters just don't appear and the space bar doesn't function properly...plus the internet cord keeps slipping out, and the other computer has to get the power cord replaced. It has gotten all sensitive. Put that on the list too.
17. I NEED this vacation
18 now
Can I get off now? I think I'm done.
And take that math teacher with me? Oooooooooh, what I would like to do to that one......
Monday, December 15, 2008
Misc.
BIG NEW OF THE DAY: Eldest P.A.S.S.E.D. Castillian!!!!! 50%, but a PASS!!!!!!!!
We are very very happy.
She is being graded just as hard as the other kids, most of whom are native speakers. This is a considerable achievement.
Good going kid.
Now, MATH!
OMG.
The test is the day my parents arrive, and as she has officially failed the term and this is the last ditch chance to pass, we have been studying like MAD....may I add, that I am learning things that they never ever taught when I was a girl....it is making it a challenge finding time to get ready...and to study Catalan...but what the heck, it'll all get done in the end. As long as she passes the darn thing.
My firefox is doing something a little weird. This screen popped up, and every time I move the mouse over it, I was painting....It is pretty cool...and quite mystifying.
Look what I did:
On another topic, can I just say something about getting older? It is weird. I was hot, then cold, then sweaty hot, then cold all day. Like an egg timer every half hour; and my eyebrows? I swear they are thining, though maybe I am just getting a complex here. This is not a common problem in Spain.
I read a casual and humorous list of parenting tips in a book last night, one of them we seem to be doing right. I'll share. "When parenting a teenager, be sure you have a dog. Then there will always be someone who is happy you came home."
Check.
I am going to have to write a practice test for eldest to do tomorrow night. Fortunately I'll be at work when she has to do it!!!
Sweet!
We are very very happy.
She is being graded just as hard as the other kids, most of whom are native speakers. This is a considerable achievement.
Good going kid.
Now, MATH!
OMG.
The test is the day my parents arrive, and as she has officially failed the term and this is the last ditch chance to pass, we have been studying like MAD....may I add, that I am learning things that they never ever taught when I was a girl....it is making it a challenge finding time to get ready...and to study Catalan...but what the heck, it'll all get done in the end. As long as she passes the darn thing.
My firefox is doing something a little weird. This screen popped up, and every time I move the mouse over it, I was painting....It is pretty cool...and quite mystifying.
Look what I did:
On another topic, can I just say something about getting older? It is weird. I was hot, then cold, then sweaty hot, then cold all day. Like an egg timer every half hour; and my eyebrows? I swear they are thining, though maybe I am just getting a complex here. This is not a common problem in Spain.I read a casual and humorous list of parenting tips in a book last night, one of them we seem to be doing right. I'll share. "When parenting a teenager, be sure you have a dog. Then there will always be someone who is happy you came home."
Check.
I am going to have to write a practice test for eldest to do tomorrow night. Fortunately I'll be at work when she has to do it!!!
Sweet!
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Bye bye shrub!
Found on Clay Burell's always fascinating site....
Asked to sum up Bush’s record on the [climate change] issue, France’s climate ambassador Brice Lalonde chose instead to pass on a story he had heard.
A man comes to the White House asking to see Bush. “He doesn’t live here anymore,” he is told. The next two days he comes again asking the same question, and receiving the same answer.
On the fourth day, the exasperated guard shot back: “I’ve already told you, he’s no longer here.”
“I know, I know,” the man replied. “But it’s such a pleasure to hear you say it.” (source)
In the news, Youngest's basketball team won handily, 60 - 8. She even scored two points!
Eldest has a field trip coming up this week. The near 200 kids from her grade are being trucked into BCN, they will go and do a set activity, and then be released into the Barri Gothic, unsupervised. They are mandated to remain in heards of at least two - analogies to lemmings come to mind- and are to meet back, we know not where, at a fixed time.
The man is concerned.
As he said, "It was easier when they were in strollers."
True, but I'm glad we're past that stage.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
OK parents out there....
Here's the question.
Small town.
Some kids are outside being stupid, but they almost certainly go to school with eldest and definitely know her.
Ignore it for a while...they are just setting off fireworks; then they start setting them off IN the garbage bins which are large and semi-permanent.
Moving from stupidity to vandalism.
Do you go out and tell them to cut it out?
Or not?
Small town.
Some kids are outside being stupid, but they almost certainly go to school with eldest and definitely know her.
Ignore it for a while...they are just setting off fireworks; then they start setting them off IN the garbage bins which are large and semi-permanent.
Moving from stupidity to vandalism.
Do you go out and tell them to cut it out?
Or not?
Woe is me.
I look at some of the kids I teach, and I swear, there are a few that have flypaper in their heads. These kids hear a word ONCE and they so totally own it. They intuit grammar, and just cruise along.
I swear to you, my brain is coated in teflon.
I was comforted to hear that the current head of Catalonia, who is Spanish, struggles mightily with the pronouns as well. Indeed they do imitations of him messing it up, and the guy can't be that stupid.
I realise I have said something wrong about two words later; then I figure out how to say it right in about the middle of the next sentence. Like coming up with a great come-back line after you've left the room.
It also means I am trying to think of four things at once when I am speaking.
1. What I said wrong before,
2. How to say it right,
3. How to say what I am trying to say now,
and
4. What the heck it is I want to say.
Sound familiar anyone?
I either have to talk a loooooooottttttttt slooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwers
and study a lot more.
On a brighter note, my folks are arriving next Friday, and friends on Saturday!
Sweet!!!
I swear to you, my brain is coated in teflon.
I was comforted to hear that the current head of Catalonia, who is Spanish, struggles mightily with the pronouns as well. Indeed they do imitations of him messing it up, and the guy can't be that stupid.
I realise I have said something wrong about two words later; then I figure out how to say it right in about the middle of the next sentence. Like coming up with a great come-back line after you've left the room.
It also means I am trying to think of four things at once when I am speaking.
1. What I said wrong before,
2. How to say it right,
3. How to say what I am trying to say now,
and
4. What the heck it is I want to say.
Sound familiar anyone?
I either have to talk a loooooooottttttttt slooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwers
and study a lot more.
On a brighter note, my folks are arriving next Friday, and friends on Saturday!
Sweet!!!
Friday, December 12, 2008
Many of the exams in the Catalan High Schools and Universities give students marks for correct answers, but also deduct marks for incorrect answers.
Think about that for a moment while I hyperventilate with rage and frustration over here.
*ahhhhhaaaaa*
Yes.
The single best tool I have ever seen for stifling effort, innovation and a willingness to take a risk.
Is there a reason educators would want to do this in a post-Franco country?
Do we have even the foggiest notion what the world our children are inheriting will be like? Really, consider the changes we have seen in only the last 20 years?
Do you think robotic regurgitation of fact from short term memory coupled with a fear of risk and imagination is going to work for them?
OMFG.
It also makes me sad to hear the number of really bright students I talk to who NEVER read; who hate reading.
I find it hard to articulate why if find that so sad. But honestly, that is the only word I can use.
Sad.
Think about that for a moment while I hyperventilate with rage and frustration over here.
*ahhhhhaaaaa*
Yes.
The single best tool I have ever seen for stifling effort, innovation and a willingness to take a risk.
Is there a reason educators would want to do this in a post-Franco country?
Do we have even the foggiest notion what the world our children are inheriting will be like? Really, consider the changes we have seen in only the last 20 years?
Do you think robotic regurgitation of fact from short term memory coupled with a fear of risk and imagination is going to work for them?
OMFG.
It also makes me sad to hear the number of really bright students I talk to who NEVER read; who hate reading.
I find it hard to articulate why if find that so sad. But honestly, that is the only word I can use.
Sad.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Jokes for Canucks!
My sister sent these over to me....
I laughed and laughed.
Hope you do to.
If your local Dairy Queen is closed from
September through May,
You may live in Canada .
If someone in a Home Depot store
Offers you assistance and they don't work there,
You may live in Canada .
If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time,
You may live in Canada .
If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation
With someone who dialled a wrong number,
You may live in Canada .
If 'Vacation' means going anywhere
South of Detroit for the weekend,
You may live in Canada .
If you measure distance in hours,
You may live in Canada .
If you know several people
Who have hit a deer more than once,
You may live in Canada .
If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C'
In the same day and back again,
You may live in Canada .
If you can drive 90 km/hr through 2 feet of snow
During a raging blizzard without flinching,
You may live in Canada .
If you install security lights on your house and garage,
But leave both unlocked,
You may live in Canada .
If you carry jumpers in your car
And your wife knows how to use them,
You may live in Canada .
If you design your kid's Halloween costume
To fit over a snowsuit,
You may live in Canada .
If the speed limit on the highway is 80 km --
You're going 90 and everybody is passing you,
You may live in Canada .
If driving is better in the winter
Because the potholes are filled with snow,
You may live in Canada .
If you know all 4 seasons:
Almost winter, winter, still winter,
And road construction,
You may live in Canada .
If you have more miles
On your snow blower than your car,
You may live in Canada .
If you find 2 degrees 'a little chilly',
You may live in Canada .
If you actually understand these jokes,
And forward them to all
Your Canadian friends & others,
You definitely live in Canada
So?
Did you like them?
Cheers,
O
I laughed and laughed.
Hope you do to.
If your local Dairy Queen is closed from
September through May,
You may live in Canada .
If someone in a Home Depot store
Offers you assistance and they don't work there,
You may live in Canada .
If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time,
You may live in Canada .
If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation
With someone who dialled a wrong number,
You may live in Canada .
If 'Vacation' means going anywhere
South of Detroit for the weekend,
You may live in Canada .
If you measure distance in hours,
You may live in Canada .
If you know several people
Who have hit a deer more than once,
You may live in Canada .
If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C'
In the same day and back again,
You may live in Canada .
If you can drive 90 km/hr through 2 feet of snow
During a raging blizzard without flinching,
You may live in Canada .
If you install security lights on your house and garage,
But leave both unlocked,
You may live in Canada .
If you carry jumpers in your car
And your wife knows how to use them,
You may live in Canada .
If you design your kid's Halloween costume
To fit over a snowsuit,
You may live in Canada .
If the speed limit on the highway is 80 km --
You're going 90 and everybody is passing you,
You may live in Canada .
If driving is better in the winter
Because the potholes are filled with snow,
You may live in Canada .
If you know all 4 seasons:
Almost winter, winter, still winter,
And road construction,
You may live in Canada .
If you have more miles
On your snow blower than your car,
You may live in Canada .
If you find 2 degrees 'a little chilly',
You may live in Canada .
If you actually understand these jokes,
And forward them to all
Your Canadian friends & others,
You definitely live in Canada
So?
Did you like them?
Cheers,
O
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Truth is.....
Am I the only one who thinks of a great blog post in the middle of the day, but when I get the chance to write I can only remember that I had a great idea, and not what the idea was?
Has the font on my blog always been this ugly and it is just on this new computer that I can see it. Doesn't blogger have any nice fonts?
My post lady suggested that we put a mailbox outside our house so she could more easily leave the mail for us. I didn't mention that if she came more than once every other week, like she is supposed to in her contract, maybe she would have less trouble getting the mail to fit into the door.
Wish I could think of that idea.
Nope.
Have you ever read the kid's book, "Mr Gum and the Biscuit Billionaire"? We are reading it now and it is extravagantly full of delightfully surrealist language...it would be unspeakably brutal for an English language learner, but is delightful otherwise. I can highly recommend it, especially for boys...though girls would love it too. Some of the characters are stunningly gross.
One of the lines I am carrying away from it is the off-repeated mantra of one of the main characters.
I'll leave you with it...
Truth is a lemon merengue.
Cheers,
O
Has the font on my blog always been this ugly and it is just on this new computer that I can see it. Doesn't blogger have any nice fonts?
My post lady suggested that we put a mailbox outside our house so she could more easily leave the mail for us. I didn't mention that if she came more than once every other week, like she is supposed to in her contract, maybe she would have less trouble getting the mail to fit into the door.
Wish I could think of that idea.
Nope.
Have you ever read the kid's book, "Mr Gum and the Biscuit Billionaire"? We are reading it now and it is extravagantly full of delightfully surrealist language...it would be unspeakably brutal for an English language learner, but is delightful otherwise. I can highly recommend it, especially for boys...though girls would love it too. Some of the characters are stunningly gross.
One of the lines I am carrying away from it is the off-repeated mantra of one of the main characters.
I'll leave you with it...
Truth is a lemon merengue.
Cheers,
O
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Jack of all trades...
The furnace guy - OMG. OK, can I just say that when he arrived (45 minutes early so the man had to leave work early so that we wouldn't have to leave both sick girls in the house with the heater guy on their own when I had to leave for work 20 minutes after he got there.)
What was I saying??
Oh, yeah...the heater guy arrived while I was on the phone with the telephone guy - in Spanish. Can I just add here, that I really cannot understand Spanish much at all.
So...heater guy (hg) buzzes, I let him on the property, put the dog in with youngest, open the door, greet him, and go back to the phone call with the phone guy (pg) (in Spanish) . The handset itself is the problem, so we can talk on the speakerphone, just not the phone. The Spanish phone guy is yapping away at me, and I haven't a freaking CLUE... heater guy is standing in the doorway looking at me, and I give him one of those what-the-heck-is-he-talking-about smile-shrugs and a laugh...so heaterguy starts to listen for real, because I am just saying 'si' to most everything. So phone guy talks, pauses, I look over to heater guy who gives me a nod, or shakes his head...and I - the conversational puppet - simply echo heater guy, now translator/phone problem solver guy.
This goes on, and after I'm off, he tells me what the heck I had being saying in the conversation.
Too weird.
He then goes and TURNS ON THE D*MN HEATER JUST LIKE WE HAD BEING TRYING ALL WEEKEND. You know when you take your car that has being doing weird stuff to the mechanic and it doesn't do it with the mechanic and you are left looking like a complete nut????
Yeah. Like that.
Anyway, I expressed considerable doubt that it was actually fixed. Explained how it had gone off...hombreheaterguy speaks CATALAN so I am home free....I asked if the wires were tight enough, yadda yadda yadda....anyway, we have heat and hot water - for now.
He also gave us the number of the factory technician. If it happens again, call them, don't call him. He has no idea what the problem could be.
Have to say...you know what he charged me? To fix (sort of) the machine, drive over etc etc etc including free translation service....????? NADA (please note I am using Spanish here) RES..NOTHING!!!
MY kind of repair guy.
I'm not leaving him home alone with the girls though. Nuff's enough.
What was I saying??
Oh, yeah...the heater guy arrived while I was on the phone with the telephone guy - in Spanish. Can I just add here, that I really cannot understand Spanish much at all.
So...heater guy (hg) buzzes, I let him on the property, put the dog in with youngest, open the door, greet him, and go back to the phone call with the phone guy (pg) (in Spanish) . The handset itself is the problem, so we can talk on the speakerphone, just not the phone. The Spanish phone guy is yapping away at me, and I haven't a freaking CLUE... heater guy is standing in the doorway looking at me, and I give him one of those what-the-heck-is-he-talking-about smile-shrugs and a laugh...so heaterguy starts to listen for real, because I am just saying 'si' to most everything. So phone guy talks, pauses, I look over to heater guy who gives me a nod, or shakes his head...and I - the conversational puppet - simply echo heater guy, now translator/phone problem solver guy.
This goes on, and after I'm off, he tells me what the heck I had being saying in the conversation.
Too weird.
He then goes and TURNS ON THE D*MN HEATER JUST LIKE WE HAD BEING TRYING ALL WEEKEND. You know when you take your car that has being doing weird stuff to the mechanic and it doesn't do it with the mechanic and you are left looking like a complete nut????
Yeah. Like that.
Anyway, I expressed considerable doubt that it was actually fixed. Explained how it had gone off...hombreheaterguy speaks CATALAN so I am home free....I asked if the wires were tight enough, yadda yadda yadda....anyway, we have heat and hot water - for now.
He also gave us the number of the factory technician. If it happens again, call them, don't call him. He has no idea what the problem could be.
Have to say...you know what he charged me? To fix (sort of) the machine, drive over etc etc etc including free translation service....????? NADA (please note I am using Spanish here) RES..NOTHING!!!
MY kind of repair guy.
I'm not leaving him home alone with the girls though. Nuff's enough.
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