URGH

What a day, to say the least. Probably the most hectic and wild day of my teaching career. My head is spinning from the day's commotion, and I have no doubt that I will be heading to bed in the next thirty minutes (right now it is 7:24pm).

Today was a special day for the school, and especially the social studies department because it was the 43rd annual "National Party Rally Day." This means that students who signed up to run for student council president last week had to present their two minute speech to the entire school at an hour long morning assembly. The school band plays the fight song, students get all reved up, and twenty-four candidates make a two minute speech that includes such promises as, "allow iPods in study hall," "free cookies during lunch," and "bring back the snack shack (ala carte line)".

After the speeches are presented, students vote for their favorite candidate. The top three students who win the primary election move on to the school's convention (held two weeks later for campaigning purposes) where the electoral college selects who will become the school's new student council president.

The day started off great! My shower was hot, my coffee wasn't too strong, and the Cubbies won the night before in the bottom of the 9th inning... meaning I could have bragging rights for another day.

I arrived at school where I was told that the teacher who usually does the emceeing of these events called-in sick and they needed a replacement. I knew that the other teacher REALLY dislikes speaking in front of the school, so I stepped up to the plate and prepared for the big event occuring after third hour.

While my first hour study hall was setting up the gym for the big event, a student came up to me in tears, explaining that she was not going to be allowed to speak at the event because she didn't turn her speech into her teacher in time... despite the fact that I told her that she could turn it in the morning of the event. The girl was going ballastic, but eventually things were ironed out and she was allowed to give her speech.

Yes, I made a mistake in telling her that she could turn in her speech on the morning of the event. I should taken initiative and been more informed on the due date. Part of being a first year teacher...

The assembly began and ended without a single problem. I emceed to rave reviews from the teachers (and students) and helped lead the school in a rousing rendition of the school fight song.

After the assembly was completed, I returned to class and began my study hall supervision. Study hall began with me sitting down in my chair, and after reaching for an item on the far end of my desk, resulted in me falling out of my chair and people laughing at me. Thankfully, I pulled out the classic one-liner, "... and for my next trick," and the ole "watch me pull my thumb off my hand" gag. The students were laughing more at how the situation was handled more than the situation itself. We'll see if the kids are bragging about how they were there when Mr. Anderson fell out of his chair.

To make things worse, during study hall, a situation involving one of my best students and a suspicion that she was skipping class led to a conference with myself, the student, and the principal that took up nearly my entire lunch hour. The student entered the office in tears, but the situation was ironed out and some miscommunications were cleared up. Thankfully, the principal was very pleased with how I handled the situation and commended me for taking appropriate measures. (I'm just going to say this... it really hurts to see a student in tears and making someone cry will NEVER be something I take pride in doing). To put the icing on the cake, the superintendent was in the office during this time, and saw the whole meeting occur. Fantastic.

So after choking my lunch down and sprinting to class, I found it very difficult to keep my head on straight for the remainder of the day. There were a billion things running through my head about every situation that had happened during the past four hours.

After the final bell rung, I had to coach a tennis match that lasted until about six at night. I love tennis and I really enjoy coaching. But today, it just was not something I felt like doing :( On top of that, a student left the match in tears. I really don't know why because our team won, but I guess that's part of being a thirteen year old.

To sum up my day...
1) Had to unexpectedly give a speech in front of, and manage the behavior of over 500 students.
2) Fell out of my chair and landed on my butt in a room filled with 31 thirteen year olds.
3) Made not one, not two, but three girls cry.
4) I was in the principal's office

To cure my pain, I drove through McDonalds and ate dinner on the drive home (nothing a #2 with a Coke can not fix, right?). I'm currently in my gym shorts, typing while watching "Star Wars" on TV. Possibly going for a run, but I think I'd rather just recharge the battery right now.

It was by far my roughest day of teaching... let's hope this is the roughest it gets!