Think Wicked Witch of the West

I'm melting! Meeeeellllltiiiiiiiiiing! Oh, what a world, what a world!

OK, not that bad. But teaching on the third floor is simply an exercise in [chemistry? physics?] today: Hot air rises. It's 7:30 a.m. and already 80 degrees outside. Girls wear their shortest and strappiest clothing, and I may have to let a lot of it slide. Eyes will droop with lethargy. I will do my best, but I can't quite fathom how I can get my students enthralled about literary and poetic terms when they can't think straight in our bad-kind-of-sauna classroom. On a Friday. With three days of classes to go. Truly this constitutes a day when all dedicated teachers should get Oscars, because boy, do we have to put on a show to get them interested when all we want to do is go home and sit in the dark in front of a fan with a tall, cool glass of [insert favorite summertime beverage here].

This morning the seniors have their picnic and SADD (the DD now stands for "destructive decisions", BTW) stages a car explosion/crash and simulates a drunk driving accident. Any minute now we'll hear said explosion. Apparently the cops come, the fire trucks come, and students "die" and are taken away, all to show what happens when you drink and drive. This weekend they have prom, so you can make the connection. One colleague said she worried that the kids would get jaded about it but every year they don't, which I find terrific and sadly necessary. Everyone goes through their lives with a story of someone they knew having that happen, and I hope this type of demonstration allows for fewer stories.

So off I go to prepare the kids for talking about allusions, archetypes, irony, oxymorons, and the like. Whee! Friday fun day! Thank God for linen dresses and in-laws with pools. Have a great weekend, folks!

p.s. M., I did not mean to neglect the lovely time I had last weekend in Albany/Ellenville with you and C's family. I will post about it soon. It will work better if you send me some pictures....