Current Listening: White Oleander by Janet Fitch
Current Reading:Cuba Diaries: An American Housewife in Havana by Isadora Tattlin
Recipe of the Day: Nore's Pasta Salad, Margarita's Quiche

God, today started off crappy! And the finish is not too promising, either! I have a sick stomach from my dinner last night. I thought that I was being reasonable, eating my share of cheddar cheese and spinach dip, a small order of creole pasta, and half a slice of chocolate cream pie - Oh, and a glass of Chardonnay. We went to Mick's for a belated birthday dinner with my husband's side of the family. Apparently, I could not handle this, as I was tossing and turning through the night.

I got to school with absolutely NO idea of what to do with my students. The other ESOL teacher and myself made some decisions about who was going to go where, but no timeline was given as to when this would come about. I knew that I had to administer the odious LAB assessment test to three students who weren't here for the original testing.

So, video time, right? I thought of showing Stand and Deliver, but many of my students wouldn't get it, and it is too long to just show today. I was trying to steer away from my usual stock of videos. I went to the media center and came out with what I thought were short enactments of The Tell-Tale Heart, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and Stories from Huckleberry Finn.

The Tell-Tale Heart video was a disaster - it was this ancient, melodramatic silent enactment of the story, while someone narrated it in Poe's actual words. My students were bewildered and bored. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was more successful, narrated by Glenn Close, and illustrated from a book. Then, I had them listen to this Scary Stories tape I had. I only made it to the part where they sang "The Gravedigger's Song" - you know: The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out... Before I put in my Traveler's in Miami tape.

Not my most shining moment as a teacher. I will have to come up with something for this afternoon. Perhaps Stand and Deliver is not such a bad idea after all. I just found out I will have them again tomorrow, so I can finish the film then.