I'm almost afraid to say anything

I posted on Friday about the end of the first week of this semester, and I said that my concerns were the size of my classes and the fact that one of my classes is 86% male. After almost two full weeks, I want to say that I had no need to be concerned. I have fantastic classes! I'm afraid that now I've said something, they will all become the classes from hell. :-)

They are still large--I have no control over that--but the students have been wonderful. Their participation is excellent, and that makes the time seem to fly. Usually, there are just a handful of students who participate in discussions, but I'm having a majority of the students participating this semester. I have NEVER experienced that, and it is WONDERFUL!! There are those few who, due to shyness or insecurity or apathy, don't say much. I am even loving my class of guys. They are a touch more...energetic, but they have been a fun group. THANK GOODNESS for the calmness of the girls, though. Check back with me in a couple of weeks to see if I still feel the same. I really think I will. I can usually tell within a few days how a class is going to go.

Tomorrow is the first major test for all of my classes. This will probably be the only time that my English 11 class will test on the same day as my English 12 classes. I like test days because I don't have to be "on" but at the same time, they can seem interminably long because I'm just sitting there watching them. That is 4.8 hours of silence. Sounds nice, but after about 2 hours of silence and doing nothing but staring at them, I have to find something to do. Unfortunately, because some will cheat (imagine that) I have to be observant and can't get too involved in anything.

On to other subjects...

I am having the WORST neck pain lately. Instead of it being on the right side, which has bothered me for a couple of years now, it is on the left side. (Mom, I KNOW I need to go to the doctor and have it checked...) Certain movements make me feel like I'm going to die. Well, not really die, but it hurts. Now, because I've been so tense from the pain in my shoulder/neck, I'm hurting down my spine. I tried to call my chiropractor today, but I didn't get an answer--it was during lunch, and this is a small office and I didn't have a chance to call later. I don't have a regular doctor--only my gyno, and he's in Birmingham. RMC has a satellite office in Dadeville, and I have gone there before when I've had sinus crud. The last time I went actually was for back spasms. I had dealt with the pain for two weeks before I gave in and went. The doctor I saw made me feel as if the ONLY reason I was there was for drugs. Ummm...had that been the reason, I wouldn't have hurt for two weeks! Because of that, I am very hesitant to go back. ARGH!

Is this the coldest weather ever? (Don't answer that...I know it isn't.) For Alabama, though, this is exceptionally cold. And I'm not a fan. I don't mind cold weather. I love wearing sweaters and boots, but I DO NOT enjoy temperatures in the teens. Lows in the upper 40s is about as cold as I want it to be. Sam has laughed at us as we complain about being cold. Our weather is nothing compared to the weather in Michigan. This morning, I told one of our custodians that he needed to do something to the water pipes so they'd freeze and we wouldn't have to go to school tomorrow. Yeah, we'd have to make it up, but I'd gladly have to do a make-up day to avoid having to get outside when it's, oh, 12 degrees in the morning!

John hasn't heard anything from the monitoring he had to do last week, unless he heard something today. He had to go to a class (on insulin pumps, I think) and he hasn't gotten home yet.

I guess that's about it. I need to get busy typing up notes on Ernest Hemingway. I love talking about him; he was such a colorful person. When we went to Key West for our 10th anniversary, we toured his home. Our tour guide was SO good! I wish I could have videoed the tour and the guide's talk. Of course, at that time I wasn't teaching English 11, so even if I could have, I wouldn't have thought that I'd ever need it. I still want a polydactyl cat. :)

OK--That is IT! Have a GREAT Friday, and STAY WARM!!