Can Hardly Stand the Wait

Only Two More Half Days of School

And it has nothing to do with the majority of my students or even the job itself--in its most normal mode.

This year has been rotten. I have been involved in one professional compromise after another. Now it's back to the girl whose mother screamed at me in March. Her daughter did virtually no work for the last two marking levels--some 20 weeks. All this was due to the concept of that special accomodation she has to get extra time for all her work.

In the meantime, she was telling her mother she had done all the work and I hadn't given her credit for it.

Eventually, the school principal stepped in. Meeting with mother and daughter finally revealed the truth. Mother supposedly went ballistic and an agreement was struck that daughter would turn in all the missing work by Monday.

Lo and behold, I have an inch high stack of papers sort of completed--though not very well--including some missing stuff dating back to January or February or even earlier.

So now what? It is totally against my professional integrity to look at work from closed marking periods. Mother kept emailing me today asking if the issues of the missing work from the 2nd level had yet been resolved. (That's from weeks 10-20 of the school year.)

I am at the mercy of my principal who always has the final say. I do not intend to change any grades I have submitted, but he can certainly change them. What is doubly aggravating is that I have been dealing with mother and daughter and counselor for months and the principal has just stepped in to settle matters. He was supposed to meet with me today, but didn't so now it has to wait another day.

I already told him I will give him the papers to grade if he insists I accept them and give them credit for the earlier grading periods. I will stick by that. I have been teaching for over 36 years. I have set high standards for myself and my students. This whole mess challenges everything I believe and have lived by for all these years. Stay tuned for tomorrow's report---

As for the horses! It was hot again today. I took yesterday off as I had a rehearsal for my solos in Church on Sunday. Tonight, I decided to long line Tucker.

What a lazy boy he is. First four trot circles were little cowboy horse jogs. No energy, no forward, no work towards the bit. I had to chase him and finally really threaten him with the lunge whip to get some real action. Eventually, despite the very annoying woods flies--I did feel bad about that--he gave me some super work. He really does look good when he elevates himself off the ground and arches into the bit with his whole body.

About 25 minutes of trotting and cantering had him worked up in a good sweat with lather between his hind legs and a sense that he really did need to "Go" when I said so. That was enough for the both of us.

The TV keeps giving severe weather alerts. Thunderstorms are predicted for later tonight around here but my cable TV stations are viewed along the East Coast, so this warning is for Pennsylvania, west of here by some 75-100 miles. Storm fronts usually come from the west this time of year, so I'd guess the predictions of storms here by around midnight are just about right.

I'll keep an eye out to the sky and and ear to the clouds. I'll have the Boys under shelter as soon as the first flare flashes.

Scary but beautiful is nature's wrath.