"How does it feel, how does it feel, to be on your own, with no direction home, like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone?" ~bob dylan

I knew school was going to suck today. Like, absolutely suck. I had been dreading it for awhile. It was the first day of the state test, which they took in the morning. I then got to teach them periods 4 and 5 and periods 7 and 8 (they had lunch sixth period). You can't imagine trying to teach these kids (for four periods, or three hours) right after they've just taken a stressful, difficult test that they know is incredibly important. They went crazy, just as I expected. I didn't have particularly difficult lessons planned, but most of them refused to do any work at all and instead decided to play indoor basketball with paper balls and the trash can. I let them. There was really nothing I could do.
The first lesson I did was reading a picture book to them called Courage. Each page began, "Courage is..." and then gave an example of courage (like, "Courage is getting your hair cut."). I had the kids each make their own page by writing their own "Courage is..." statement and drawing a picture to go along with it. Here's my favorite:

It says "Courage is my teacher." How sweet is that?? And during the last two periods, about five students crowded around me and we did their social studies worksheet together. The rest of the class was out of control, but I actually managed to get some of them to work (and they understood it, too). So my lessons weren't a total waste, and we ended the day with no injuries, which meant it wasn't so bad. I'm dreading Thursday even more than I was dreading today (it's the same schedule as today, except it will be after they finished three days of testing, so they'll be completely burned out). I can't wait until this test is over.

On a more positive note, I had a good weekend, even though I got absolutely no work done. On Saturday Nicole and I went to the opening of the New York Guitar Festival. A bunch of different musical artists recreated Bob Dylan's legendary Royal Albert Hall concert. They played through the setlist from that concert with each artist playing a different song. The last song was "Like a Rolling Stone," which is probably my favorite Dylan song. Then all the bands did an encore together. They did "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," another Dylan song that I absolutely love. There was just so much energy on stage during that performance; it was magical. So it was a good night. Then on Sunday I had brunch with my friends Christin and Marie. It was so good to see them. I got to hang out with Christin afterwards, and I'm very glad we got to catch up. I'm terrible at keeping in touch with people, but I need to try harder because I really am blessed with some wonderful friends.