lugubrious part 1

Today I live up to my blog's name. I am lugubrious.

It all started Wed when I found out that one of my classes for the job I hate requires me to do a group project for 20% of my grade. One of my group members is a 4th grade teacher. We're supposed to do a unit using a textbook and a novel for high school English. She wants to use a Beverly Cleary book.

The next heap of shit came yesterday in my other class for the job I hate. These classes are 3 hours long. Let me describe to you my 3 hour meeting:

• we began the class with having to give a commercial convincing other students to put us in their groups--no, first she elected this anorexic, mealymouthed, pasty little nothing with bruises and red scratches all over her neck to be the time keeper and to tell the teacher when it was time to go, but she's too shy to say anything, so we sit there overtime
• we then had to write a reflection of said commercial
• next we took a pretest. Mind you, she believes that students should never be left with nothing to do or they'll do things "of their own accord", and she wants to model this with us, so we are never left without something to do. So, we take the pretest--26 essay questions. Need I say more?
• then we had to write a reflection of said pretest, which she reminded us about saying, "You know what to do next, right?" In my reflection, I wrote that I couldn't write because my hand is tired.
• then she gave us the TEKS for grades 4-8 and 8-12 to analyze and highlight the domains that pertain to writing
• reflection time
• then she broke us up into groups--teachers and not teachers yet (3:10)
• teachers were to brainstorm questions; not teachers yet, answers to possible questions
• mock interview during which one of my former classmates from high school (he was a prick then and still a prick) answered an interview question about racial bias in the test curriculum: "I decline the position."
• reflections
• discussion of the lack of syllabus
• discussion of grades: we won't be getting any grades until after the course is over. we will turn our work in to the teacher in little color coded folders with our names on them, and we can "visit our work as often as [we'd] like so that [we] can make changes as we go along" and then she'll grade them all at the end.
• reflection about grades at 8:05
• mealymouth still sitting there looking uncomfortably at her watch, scratches growing redder
• homework assignment--5 page essay about our teaching philosophy
• reflection about essay assignment
• I walk out