Total (sleep) depravity.

People who know me would probably agree that I like to be and feel successful. I've never really played sports because I'm not good at them and hate losing. Bad grades brought on mini-life crises. I struggle whenever I feel like someone doesn't like me to a point where I'll sometimes bend who I am to avoid being the bad guy.

And I can't do that, can't be that right now. I have to let some things go and do the best I can, even if it's not the best ever. I need to be willing to make decisions that my students might not like as much for their own good, and possibly for mine right now. I need to figure out when to be the bad guy.

The question that has been going through my head this past week is this: How do you know what your students know?

Am I using our time wisely? Can I be more effective? What is realistic to expect of myself?

When do I get to sleep?

Oh, first year.

On the bright side - here are after-school volunteers to help Ms. Kroon have a picture to show friends and family. Based on the line-up, I think it's safe to say there will be at least a couple more to follow.

The other bright side? Well, there are a couple every day. These kids are great. So that's a thing. But the most recent one was actually pretty dark. A big thunder storm rolled through this evening that cut out our power for almost an hour (rhyme time :-D ). A night that was supposed to exclusively be spent being productive had a nice break of chilling with the roommates in the dim light of the storm, unable to work because of my dead computer. I needed that today.