Feeling Domestic

And pleasantly so. Which is something, when I was younger, I never thought I'd say! Lol. I was never one for cooking/cleaning/etc. In other words, the practical sides of keeping a house in working order. But now that hubby and I have our own home (ps I LOVE our house), I'm finding that I really do enjoy keeping it nice. Apartments were fun, but they were literally "playing house"--houses take so much more work!

Anyway, today, after a relatively easy but unfulfilling day at school (details later), I came home and got the HELL out of my work clothes. Then I puttered around the kitchen, doing the dishes, making tea for my throat (again details in a bit), and generally cleaning up. Next, I got some laundry going and drank my tea while reading my book. Then I fixed another cup of tea and turned on NCIS while I'm waiting for my towel load to dry, and my darks/jeans to finish washing.

As far as the school day went, I reviewed the activity in the workbook the kids did yesterday while the substitute was there. Then we did a listening exercise. And all that took approximately 20 minutes lol. My voice was still completely shot today (until the amazing TEA!) so after we got through those activities I gave them a free day. Oh! But the one super-awesome and pretty damn fulfilling part happened during 7th period. They were ANGELS! I told them that if they screwed up their "trial week" of group seating this time, they would be in rows for the rest of the school year! They still chatted a bit, but came back to order when necessary. They were actually better than some of my other classes! It was a definite first! Now, we'll see how long it will last lol.

In health news, I have my voice back!!! Well, mostly. My throat's still really sore, and when I talk my voice rasps and fades at unpredictable intervals, but I'm hoping by tomorrow morning it will be good enough to let me actually TEACH the new vocabulary unit to my students! After that, it's up to them to learn it.
Speaking of, I found an AMAZING quote online today:

"Responsibility for learning belongs to the student, regardless of age." ~Robert Martin

Couldn't be more true. I do my best to provide information and motivation, but when it comes down to it, it's up to the student to study the material, practice, and LEARN. It's really too damn bad that so much of society puts the failure of the student on the teacher's shoulders. That's not to say that a shitty teacher can't screw up a students' learning progress OR the students' love for a subject. But when a teacher does everything he or she can think of--teaching, reteaching, breaking down concepts to their most basic units, trying different approaches to the subject, offering tutoring, etc--and the student STILL does not learn...then it's a lack of effort on the student's part, not on the teacher's. Getting parents involved definitely helps, but once you get kids at the high school age there's only so much a parent can do with a teenager determined to get in their own way. Anyway, I'm done with that rant lol.

On a more somber note, we have a guest this week. Not that that's somber--it's really good to see her and spend time with her--but the reason for her visit is sad. One of her dearest friends--her brother in everything but blood--died this past week in a horrendous car wreck. She's crashing with us during the funeral arrangements and occasions. I'm hoping staying with us, instead of with some of the other deeply affected, gives her a place to take a break from the overwhelming crush of sadness...but I know that that sadness is inside of her as well as coming from people around her. Hopefully here, she won't have as many external reminders, though there's nothing we can do to ease the internal pain other than being there for her. Her dad might come stay with us this weekend too--same reason--so it will be good to see him, even though (again) the circumstances suck.

So anyway, why am I sitting here typing a book? lol Well the hubby is at the archery range with a coworker, and I WAS waiting on laundry. Our friend isn't back yet, so it's just me and the pups, who are sleeping. Anyway, now that the laundry's done and we're in between episodes of NCIS, I'm gonna go be domestic some more, before relaxing some more! And that's about all that I'm thinking at the moment.