This Is Christmas?

Here was how I spent my last day of school before the Christmas break:

1. Graded two class sets of E1 Critical Lens Tests and entered grades into my book
2. Finished grading one class set of E7 essay tests on King Hedley II
3. Wrote five college recommendations
4. Planned for Monday 1/3
5. Made copies for Monday 1/3 hand-out for E1 MLA Research Paper
6. Began searching for financial aid information that can be used as a handout for my two sections of E7 seniors
7. Wrote a reply email to a parent upset that her daughter dropped from an A to a B in the second marking period
8. Researched student on ARIS in preparation for that email
9. Taught five classes
10. Ran scantrons of E1 department multiple choice test, ran data analysis of those tests, entered scores into my book, gave data analysis to data fetishist in admin
11. Spoke to three freshmen who scored low on the multiple choice exam, exhorted them to work on "single-tasking" and "focus" in the New Year (these three children are literally all over the place - they would do well to NOT be educated in a system run by a computer software mogul like Bill Gates)

Yeah, that was the day - a very busy day.

Think Cathie Black worked this hard?

I doubt it - judging by the lines on her face, she was drunk by 12:30 and wearing a lampshade and pantyhose on her head by 3:00 PM.

Think Bloomberg worked this hard?

I doubt it - judging by his latest escapades, he probably deflected blame for the CityTime scandal a couple of times before noon, then flew off to the tropical island he owns.

Think Bill Gates worked this hard?

I doubt it - the only hard work Gates ever does is when he is looking to screw somebody out of an invention, steal an idea and call it "Microsoft" or feed Africa with GMO food that causes cancer.

And he gets off on that stuff.

So as we start the Christmas holidays, I'd like to pat myself on the back for working as hard as I do despite all the garbage the media prints about teachers, all the smears and lies the politicians utter about teachers, all the harmful and self-serving policies "education philanthropists" like Bill Gates, Eli Broad, Michael Bloomberg and Rupert Murdoch promote (and enrich themselves off of.)

I'd like to pat myself on the back because I know few others will - certainly not anybody in the media or political office.

And if you're a teacher and reading this blog, I'd like to pat you on the back too - first for working as a teacher DESPITE the horrors teachers have inflicted upon them every day in the papers and on the TV, DESPITE the short-sighted and harmful policies promoted by the politicians in office - I know we all feel like standing up, giving Obama and the rest a Johnny Cash salute and walking off, but we stick by this job in tough conditions with horrendous budget cuts and do the best we can anyway.

And that's a great thing, no matter what that chowderhead Oprah thinks.

The second thing I'd like to thank you for is reading this blog.

Happy holidays!