I've been trying to think about what effect (affect?) this blog has on the readers. Most of the time, I've focused on the difficulties, because those are often more entertaining to read about, and in any event sound less like TFA promotional material, than any triumphs or successes that I've had. Consequently, I have to wonder whether y'all are getting a skewed view of what my kids are like, or the community in which I teach. This doesn't mean that I'm going to stop telling the stories of hellish things the kids have did (new one for Friday- used sanitary pad on my chair... fun fun fun), but I figure I should probably include something useful in here as well. Like how on Friday, all hygenic products aside, I had one of the better days I've had so far, because the kids seem to be getting in line with my new hard-ass policy of grading them on their behavior (err, work-habits and participation, in case anybody from District J is reading). I was working under the assumption that my previous discipline policy was too confrontational, and the kids wanted to be kicked out, or yelled at, or whatnot, so they kept acting up. This denies them the chance to show off, and it gives them a decent incentive to play by the rules. With the screwing around cut down a little bit, I'm able to actually get some instruction done, so we got through a unit (Scientific Revolution) in a record week's time.

Also in the process of looking for new housing, and trying to decide if I'm looking for 3 person lofts or 1 bedroom places with nice kitchens and hardwood floors. Looking like that will be cleared up by tomorrow or Tues. at the latest, so I may have some news there soon. Either way I'm probably going to end up in Silverlake, which is where I went last weekend for the Pattern hootenanny. Did some house hunting this weekend and was really happy with the places that I saw, so definitely looking forward to ending up in that neighborhood, no matter how the chips fall.