I Am Not a Math Teacher

A kid stopped by room today and asked me if I was a math teacher. Please. Do I look like a math teacher? Perhaps it was the sheer exhaustion written all over my face that made him think I was some sort of crazy number cruncher. Let's pretend.

72- The number of kids enrolled in just my 6th period class

70- The number of kids that showed up today (who are all truly nice and smart, by the way, it's just a space/scheduling/noise issue)

30- The number of pages I read in The Art of Fielding this afternoon when I made the mistake of laying on the couch before dinner (never happens, since I have a hard time getting up...)

700- The number of pages my juniors have to read per semester in outside reading

100- The approximate number of groans I heard throughout the day when I gave them my "you can't read James Patterson, Nicholas Sparks, Stephanie Meyer, or Suzanne Collins because you are reading things of literary and academic merit on the basis of college readiness" speel

35- The number of authors I hyped up to them instead ("guys, I think you'd really love Crime and Punishment... it's about a guy who kills an old lady, robs her, and then..")

3- The number of kids that got super excited when I told them that Tolkien would be approved 

1- The number of students that actually had a copy of A Picture of Dorian Grey in class to to start reading (be still my heart)

1- The number of students that had on a Jane Austen shirt today (she may have also been the one wanting to read Oscar Wilde from above...) 

8- The number of books I've put into my cart on Amazon to buy and haven't

91- How hot it still is, at 7:30 pm, where I live

15- The amount of Teddy Grahams I've consumed in the last hour

26- The number of questions on the Antigone test I'm currently writing for tomorrow 

3- The number of times I've heard the NFL theme song thingy in the past 5 minutes (apparently it's fantasy draft time for some people). Go football. 

The first week back is always the hardest. I really love the courses I'm teaching and the kids in the classes- a few kinks just need to be worked out. The heat, though, that's another damn story...