July 10, 2014: Trying Times

As of July 31, I am homeless. As of August 1, I am jobless. God is laughing at me. My student reviews are "higher than average." All except for three rather unmotivated students are passing at a "higher than average" GPA and overall rate. My students actually show up to class regularly, which is an ongoing battle for almost everyone else. The Big Boss eviscerated my teaching and ranked me "fair" to "poor" in most categories. Granted, he saw me on a suckish day. I followed the previous teacher's lesson plans, as advised and actually required, even though I didn't feel terribly comfortable with the idea of using "stations" for teaching beginners - ESL teachers will know what I mean. He first said I didn't explain enough, then later said I over-explained. Whatever.  My students are still fasting, and also happen to be passing around a bad summer cold - which I now have - that has caused them to drop like flies. Their energy level is pretty low, and Tuesday was actually the worst day of class ever. Oh, and did I mention we still have no functional air conditioner in the classroom - in a warmer than usual Texas summer? We all STINK at the end of a class, especially one poor young man who has gotten severe gas and diarrhea from Ramadan fasting; I let him sit by the window and run to the bathroom as necessary. The A/C issue has been reported many times, but no one has come to take care of it. The Big Boss has offered to observe again, my other class this time. I will take him up on the offer, but only to prove I don't suck. Some of his criticism was just, but it couldn't be helped due to the trying situation. I DID have some issues that day - which reminded me of some of the ridiculous teaching methods expected at a certain for-profit learning center -  but they have resolved now that everyone is back and actually doing their homework. The irony? My students were very energetic today and had a blast. Not incidentally, they learned something. We almost got yelled at again for too much noise!