The Third Quarter

We are almost through the third quarter, coming up fast on Spring Break.  The 3rd quarter is probably the most stressful of all four quarters of school: that new school year energy that some of us felt in September (although never for very long) has long since worn off, and Christmas break is far behind.  The weather may be better than in January and February, but it's still rainy most of the time in the Northwest and we can't give up wearing our winter woolies quite yet. 

Any Spring Fever type behavior that has lain dormant for the winter is going to start showing itself now, or any time from here to the end of the school year.  Our students are very bright and diligent, but they do act up from time to time, and now is the time for any squirreliness to show itself.  In addition to a heaping helping of the random, we have pre-scheduled events in the 3rd quarter, kind of like those obstacles that suck your life force down in a video game: parent-teacher conferences, the Spring Program where we all have to show off to our best advantage, Teen Pact for some of the upper grades (kind of a state legislative educational camp/ week-long field trip), the National Latin Exam (scheduled for the week of the Ides of March, of course), and all the regular illnesses that hit this time of year (strep, flu, bronchitis, that thing with the fever, etc.); and for those of us with a college-bound senior, we have the added obstacles of navigating the admissions minefield and planning for graduation.

And the teachers are tired.  Bone tired... at least this teacher is.  I came home from Monday night Knit Night at Starbucks a little after 9:00 and went straight to bed... and fell asleep before 10:00, which I NEVER do.  I'm really not sure why.  Yesterday I taught, desperately trying to review my students, many of whom were absent, for the final exam Wednesday.  I came home and baked bread, made soup and granola.  No real progress on anything else; not grading, not preparing for Spring Break, not all the family busy-ness.  Today my classes went a little bit better, but I'm still worried about several students and the thought of grading those exams... ugh.  I need a power-up.