Wheee! Back from meeting. Very, very good meeting. Now I just have to discuss finances with Pete, so I know exactly how much of it I get for spending money.

Tips from vw's day:

• Don't rent from jerks (landlord had hallway/stairwell blocked off again when I came by today, and I found more paint/spackle on my things)

• Don't have jerks for roommates (Not!Emily tried to get out of paying the almost $400 he owes Emily)

• Again, don't have jerks for roommates (Not!Emily left behind his huge ass rug for us to throw out tomorrow. Dumbass)

• Don't treat yourself to a trip Bed, Bath and Beyond on college move-in day (told mom that the streets were littered with freshman. She said they probably wouldn't appreciate being described that way. I said, I choose my words very carefully)

• Don't try to re-treat yourself with a smoothie that doubles as nutrition, or you may get your wish (just ate a bug...or spit out a bug, at least)

• Don't sell things on half.com and expect to actually make money (highest-priced item I've sold is apparently "lost in the mail")

Biggest tip of the day:

• Don't be vw. She sucks.

HEY! No she doesn't. ANd you stop talking about my friend that way this very instant.

Don't be vw. She sucks.

This? This is not true. This is a big fib.

I think I'm gonna go walk the dog and go to bed. I really wanted to talk to Emily tonight, but if I don't take my meds and go to bed about this second, things are going to get very, very ugly.

Bed is good when one is feeling low. And generally, when one wakes up, you feel better.

Hey, awesome walking in here and feeling the sweet, sweet teacher-love. Let me bask for a moment..............and, done! That was nice.

Speaking of nice, did I mention I got a gift cert for an hour long massage I will be scheduling for Saturday for my birthday? Sweet!

Em, yet another piece o' advice:

3. Whenever things get noisy, just stop talking. Stop talking, stop moving, and just look pointedly at the talkers. Wait until there is silence (which there will eventually be). Calmly start talking again. (This technique doesn't work every time, but it definitely works better than yelling most of the time.)

I can vouch for this method. The kids will do the shushing for you.

Another thing that gets the kids to do the shushing for you. After a couple of verbal warning, the next time a student (or 8) are talking or not paying attention, I hold up a hand and count, very quietly, to 5, holding up a finger for each number. I have explained what I'm doing in the first days. Usually, someone sees and yells, "Shut UP!"

If not, then when I get to five, I start counting quietly, hand still up in the air. The kids closest to you will usually notice and start hollering at people to shut up. The second the WHOLE class is quiet, I stop my numbers. Then I say, this is the numbers of seconds the whole class has to stay after the bell. This makes the whole class responsible for making sure everyone is quiet and paying attention.

I also say that I will take five seconds off the time for every five minutes they are quiet and paying attention.

When the bell rings, I don't start counting off the seconds till everyone is in their seat, and silent. If someone gets up, or talks, the count starts over.

They HATE losing passing period time, and soon will police themselves.

Good method.

I need someone to go to the markets for me. I'm out of pretty much everything. Including motivation to go to two different stores. Or even just one really.

If you find that motivation to go food shopping, let me know. Mine has run off and disappeared. O woe is me, what's for dinner? Besides nasty stuff from the back of the cupboard, I mean. (/lazy too)

In other silencing moves:

Whether this will work depends a lot on the atmosphere of your classroom, but if the students have been instilled with some sense of interest in their grades, it seems like an interesting concept. Go stand near one student who has been behaving, look in the general area of him/her - not exactly at, but towards the small group surrounding said student - and start talking, VERY quietly, about what in the lesson is important. Teach to the small group. Make sure to drop important key words like "for your homework," "on the test," "good trick," and so forth. The people around them will start to overhear, but not be able to catch everything and, will try to silence those around them, slowly. Should be a ripple effect. If you time your voice right, by the time it's reached the edge of the classroom, you'll be talking in a voice that can be heard by everybody IF it's quiet.

It takes some improvisation to be able to come up with stuff that fits the key words, but it might be nice. I don't expect it will work until later in the term, but something to tuck away.

And.... I should be lesson planning. My principal wants to see plans tomorrow. Which is good. But I'm so tired.

Gris, I read your name as "Gus," and all I could think was "Good tip, but since when is Gus teaching?"