"And I must be an acrobat, to talk like this, and act like that. And you can dream, so dream out loud, and you can find your own way out. And you can build, and I can will, and you can call, I can't wait until. You can stash, and you can seize, in dreams begin responsibilities. And I can love. And I can love. And I know that the tide is turning 'round, so don't let the bastards grind you down." ~u2

There's another fantastic song from Achtung Baby. Seriously, every single song on that album is brilliant.

I haven't blogged for awhile...I'm not quite sure what to say. I'm drained. I started teaching a unit on Lord of the Flies today, and it went well. I put them in groups and had them do a survival activity, and they got really into it. One class is furious with me, though, because I wouldn't let them go to a basketball game that was occurring during our class period. They're already missing class next week because of the SOLs, and missing today would have completely screwed everything up and would have gotten them off the same schedule as the other classes. I hate not being liked by them. I know that, as a teacher, I have to accept the fact that not all my students will like me, but that's a very difficult thing to accept. Anyway, the incident led to what I thought was a funny quote from my cooperating teacher. This was our exchange:
Me: They hate me.
Ms. W: They'll get over it.
Me: Casey* wouldn't even speak to me.
Ms. W: Claire, most days I would love it if Casey didn't speak to me.
Heh. She had a good point.
By the end of the period they had cheered up, they seemed to have forgotten about the game, and Casey was speaking to me, so it wasn't such a big deal. I still feel bad, though.
Another funny quote from today:
In their groups, they had to make posters displaying their tribes' symbols. One tribe drew Pooh Bear (there's a long story behind that decision that I won't go into). I'm not sure of the exact reasoning behind this quote, but I overheard one of them say, "Well then, we'll just have to make Pooh Bear black."

UR's spring break starts tomorrow, which means that I'll be left alone in my apartment all week. That'll be strange. I don't mind it; I'm a loner, so I'm fine being alone, but it'll be...different.

* = name changed just because I feel weird using my students' real names in here