So, interview seemed to go well. Hopefully I'll hear back from them soon about coming in for the technical interview.

Have a second interview with a place for a contract-to-hire position tomorrow at 10am. At least I know I didn't blow the first interview there, but they're definitely my second choice as it's help desk instead of desktop support.

Sheryl, can you turn off the VCR's DST adjustment option? I know that mine lets me do that (and thanks for reminding me to switch it off!!).

bacon popcorn

There was bacon brittle in the green room today. Ew.

The only problem I have with earlier DST is that the one VCR that automaticly shifts for DST is gonna be confused.

How does that work? I thought they got the time/date from the broadcast/cable signal.

There was bacon brittle in the green room today. Ew.

I am both grossed out and desirous of this. My reaction is something akin to the alternating expressions of joy and terror on Fry and Zap Brannigan's faces when they heard they were to be snu snu-ed to death.

I live in the desert. Were it not for cable, I would never need to know what DST was.

aurelia, some do, some don't -- not the older models.

My Sony Dream Machine radio alarm clock has a dedicated DST button. You have to remember to press it twice a year, but then it's only one button, which strikes me as a simple but elegant solution.

Sweet and savory can be very good, like when a little bit of the maple syrup from your pancakes gets on your bacon. I would have to try it, I fear.

In t me ="whinger" news, I have added a secondary treatment to Nora's excellent recommendation of the heating pad. Both my mum (who had to pick the kids up for me, because my back was so bad I didn't think I could drive) and my husband recommended I take some wine as a muscle relaxant, instead of taking ibuprofen (since it gave me a headache). They too are GENIUS. I've gotten one glass down, and have the heating pad wrapped around me, and feel better than I've felt all day.

My friend makes "Pig Candy" at his wine bar [link] and it is delicious! Thick cut bacon with a mapley flavor. So tasty!

You should market that cure, Cindy.

I think I have a switch on my iHome alarm clock thingy that needs to be switched for DST. Good thing I know where the owner's manual is, that's the only one that really needs to be correct right away. It'll be kind of a fun experiment to see which of my timekeeping devices change on their own. I know some do, normally.

Re: Evil Teachers

The thing is? I'm not that teacher at all. (Not to say that you all think I'm beating kids in the closet, but this is a hot button for me.) I'm the teacher that kids come hang out with during lunch. I'm the teacher that sends flowers to her kids in the hospital and gives anyone with a reasonable excuse a reasonable extension. I bend over backwards to make my students feel valued, and I work my ass off to make every lesson and every paper a meaningful experience for them.

Here is the series of emails (names deleted, of course), that led to today's kerfuffle:

Parent Letter 1

Hi Kristin,

[Student] talked to me about her final and was completely disappointed.  She walked out of it feeling very confident and spent days preparing for it.  Can you please send the final home with her so her dad and I can review it.  I do believe she will be coming in to talk to you about it.  Thanks, [Parent]

My Response 1

Hi [Parent]-

It was such a tough trimester for her, I know. Sigh[...]I wanted to let you know that the biggest problem was quite simply that she didn't use a single direct quote from either [book] or [film]. They were allowed and encouraged to bring in a page of quotations to use as support. She had some good basic ideas, and had she supported them with direct evidence, her essay would have been in the B range.

I would really prefer if we could find a time when you and/or your husband could come in so that we could look at it together. Would that be possible? Thanks, Kristin

In the meantime, I talked to my principal, department head, and other 9th English teaching colleague. Colleague read and graded the exam and gave it the same thing I did. Principal and department head backed me up and said definitely not to send the exam home, as it's against our policy regardless.

Parent Letter 2 (note the lack of salutation)

We talked about the direct quotes and I read your instructions and they said the quotes were optional. [Student] went back and forth on whether or not to use quotes and since they were optional and she had her material researched she chose not to use them.  Let’s talk, [Parent]  PS  [Parent's husband] has the flu and I don’t want to wait for him to get better so please make a copy or better yet make a copy and we can all go over via conference call.  Thanks.

My Response 2

Dear [Parent]-

I'm so sorry about the misunderstanding we seem to be having. I'm not sure where the confusion is about quotations being optional in the instructions, but I'd be happy to look at them together with you. In addition to what was written on the exam itself, however, we did discuss the necessity for relevant, specific support during the last review day, and I told the students directly that quotations would be necessary to truly substantiate their arguments. One of the main skills we were working on this past trimester was the use of quotations--why they are so important to ground one's argument in the text, how to select them, and how to integrate them into one's own commentary. One of the skills I was assessing in this final was each student's ability to use textual support to prove her thesis. The main reason [Colleague] and I gave the students the exam ahead of time was to allow them to prepare their thesis and list of quotes. In the exam preparation letter that every student received, I re-emphasized this point by instructing, "[Your prepared outline] should consist of a thesis statement/explanation (1-3 sentences) and basic subtopic outline with the cited quotes you plan to use."

Just to be absolutely certain of myself, however, I asked [Colleague] (the other 9th grade English teacher) to read [Student]'s essay today and to score it. He gave it the same grade, so I'm confident that I am being consistent with grade-level standards.

I very much would like to meet with [Student], you and [Parent's Husband] about the exam at your convenience and am happy to go over it with you in detail. However, I checked with [Principal] and [Department Head], (continued...)